Heroes Homecoming
by WildHorseFantasy
Summary: Alternate Universe. Luke Skywalker is determined to save his Father after he kills the Emperor. But the only one who can help the Alliance accept him is Obi-Wan Kenobi, who barely escaped Vader on the first Death Star. But he never rejoined the fleet after his last mission. Can his father help find him? And will he see him as friend or foe?
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: This was written for fun, not profit. I don't own Star Wars I just play in that world. Thanks to Lucas and the many people who brought it to life and hopes that Disney will do it justice._

**This story is an alternate universe: a 'what if' some characters survive that in the movies were killed.**

* * *

Vader closed his eyes but it was Anakin who opened them. Everything had been dark for over twenty years. But then a light had finally broken through, getting brighter and brighter. Until now, he'd found his way out.

The secret of the dark, the horrible evil secret, was that it didn't matter if you were hating yourself or someone else. Hating yourself still trapped you in the dark side. You were trapped in a circle of fear and anger and loneliness and guilt. Until someone gave you a gift of forgiveness. And it was totally undeserved after all he'd done.

But by doing it, Luke also saved himself. He refused to let himself carry the weight of that hate. And he showed Anakin how to let it go too.

No matter what he had done twenty years ago, he had to let it go. Not because he deserved to be free, but because the universe deserved to be free of Vader. And as long as he held onto that guilt and hate, Anakin was trapped in that moment, the moment he first fell to the dark side.

Luke was trying to haul him out of the Death Star.

"Just go. You've already saved me." The electricity had damaged his limbs. His lungs were sufficiently healed, maybe, for short use without the mask though he'd hid it from the emperor. But Anakin could feel time running out. The Death Star rocked, smoke filtered through his damaged mask…that wasn't so good for his lungs. Sparks flew from damaged panels, sirens wailed…Anakin managed to key in the code to the Emperor's private lift. They practically fell inside.

"No. I won't leave you."

A mighty shudder slammed them both into the wall. The lift dropped, shook and finally half opened.

"Uh oh." Luke stared at the blockage of metal debris in front of them.

Anakin hit a switch left handed and the turbo lift screeched loudly and lifted up. It shook violently as it lifted up.

"Where are we going?"

"Next level. We can switch to another lift or take the stairs. Or in my case, fall down them."

"See, you're already saving me again. I could wander around lost until this thing blows up."

"Huh."

They reached the next level, which was damaged but not as bad. "I can't get through that. Go." Anakin stated.

"No. If you shed the shoulder armor you could fit."

"You'd have to cut the armor. It's not designed to be moved without removing the helmet first."

"I don't want to hurt you. But I am not leaving you." Luke carefully pulled out the green blade and very gently cut through the armor. It was tougher than he expected. He hardly dared breathe and Anakin didn't move either. Luke fought to pull it apart when it was almost cut through rather than risk the blade touching his father. When it broke they both staggered.

"That is tough stuff." He gasped. They squeezed out. Luke had to pull hard to get his father through even without the armor.

"From there, they made there way toward an upper gantry.

Luke carefully studied the exits. Two royal guards stood near one. He frowned. "Those royal guards are by that lift we tried to exit. I guess we might've had a fight if we went that way."

"You would. I doubt I could fight off a stiff wind at the moment." Anakin wheezed.

"Which ship…"

"The shuttle. It's mine and it has the best shields as well as a cloak."

Luke's head whipped around. "It has a working cloaking device? I thought there weren't any more?" Luke helped him to the exit.

"It's one of the few left." Anakin coughed violently, staggering. "You should leave me."

"I won't."

"I've nowhere to go. And I don't deserve to live, after what I've done. The galaxy would be relieved to see me go."

"I wouldn't. I've looked for you all my life. Now I've found you, don't ask me to let you go. Please."

Anakin's legs gave out on him and Luke dragged him to the ramp. The fallen knight fumbled for the mask. "Help me take this off."

"But…"

"Please…"

Luke pulled it off. He drew back, startled. "You almost…don't look like you need it."

"Healed up a bit…don't know…I'm proud of you." He coughed. Anakin insisted "I don't want to live like this in your world. It reeks of the dark…"

"Let them try. Let them try and save you…all the way." Luke's voice shook. "Please. If they can't…" If they couldn't, he'd let him go. He could feel his pain, he couldn't force him to live like that.

Luke hauled him up the ramp. Anakin fell unconscious and Luke slapped an emergency mask from a med kit on him. Then there was no time for anything but fly. The hanger was exploding around them and Luke immediately saw the rebel fleet was pulling back. Still, TIE fighters and enemy ships were shooting at the X-Wings. One X-Wing whizzed around him, taking aim. Luke scowled at the notion of being shot down by friendly fire. But to be fair, they had no way of knowing he wasn't the Emperor trying to make a quick getaway. He glanced back at his father and hit the cloaking device, dodging aside from the laser bolts and veering away from the other ships vectors. Then he took time to change the frequency on the communications and transponder.

"Come on, come on." He hissed impatiently. He had to let them know it was him, without letting them know who he had with him. Their fear might cause a lethal reaction.

"Okay then."

Luke uncloaked and hailed the medical frigate with the new transponders and code. "This is Commander Skywalker requesting to board. I have an injured man."

"Unusual vessel your flying Commander."

"I kind of requisitioned one of theirs."

Luke leaped for the back of the shuttle as soon as he landed. He looked his father over carefully. All the lights on the light support were blinking a frantic red. If the medics knew about it maybe they could fix it. But he didn't want to live in life support and if they figured out who he was, the odds were that he would go straight to the bottom of the triage list. The only shot he had was if they didn't know and most of those needing emergency care hadn't yet made it over here. They were on other ships or floating in space waiting for rescue. Or they were on the Endor moon waiting for pickup. Space battles didn't have a whole lot of wounded right away because even if they survived being blasted into space they still had to survive the enemy fighters and flying debris and even friendly fire.

Decision made, he removed it carefully. He winced at how shallow his father was breathing. Laying his hand on his chest and then his neck, he searched for a pulse. It was thready. Glancing around he pulled the boots off. He gasped as he realized even his legs were prosthetic. Still, the prosthetics would draw less attention than the high black boots that were part of his familiar armor. He removed the belt carefully, disconnecting monitors and hook ups. Tears were in his eyes now but he was scarcely aware of them. "Oh Father."

A banging on the ramp made him hastily dump the armor and gear into a storage locker en route to the ramp. He flicked it open.

"Please hurry. He saved my life. And he's in really bad shape...he was in life support gear but we had to shed it. We were trapped and he couldn't squeeze out."

"We'll do our best, Commander." The human medic was a female and Luke could sense her doubt. A droid floated beside her her on repulsors, taking readings.

Luke followed the medical unit to the main infirmary where 21B immediately set to work on him. The droid came out and spoke to Luke thoughtfully. "Commander, I am sorry. No standard treatment can save this man."

"What about non standard treatments? Anything at all that might save him without relying permanently on life support.

The droid paused. "There may be a way. But it is highly unlikely. It is experimental and has only shown promise with donor blood and tissue from close kin in good health."

Luke clenched his fists. "I'm close kin. He's my Father. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone yet."

"Then I will make the attempt. First I must give you a basic check."

"I'm fine."

"It will only take a moment."

Luke didn't ask if a moment would matter. Where was all his Jedi patience? It was worn out. He'd done anything a Jedi could do to stop the emperor. Now time was running out.

"There is a problem."

"We can't wait for any problems." Luke was staring passed the droid at the surgery where his father barely clung to life.

"You are showing evidence of exposure to extreme electrical activity. Taking the samples will further traumatize you, perhaps permanently and may affect the viability of the samples."

"Can you treat it?"

"Yes."

"Will he survive until then?"

"No."

"Then we don't have anything to lose!"

The medical droid cocked his head. "I would not choose to risk permanent injury to you given the odds against success."

"As my friend Han would say, never tell me the odds. I beat them once today. If this has any chance at all, save him!"

* * *

to be continued.


	2. Chapter 2

Anakin opened his eyes. He blinked them shut immediately. The light seemed so bright. He was aware of a presence near him. Slowly he cracked his eyes open to peer to his right. Luke sat there, dressed in a plain hospital robe.

Suddenly the memory of recent events flooded into him. He sucked in a deep breath and it disoriented him further to realize that he _could_ suck in a deep breath. There was no horrible, rasping sound. He blinked his eyes open, daring the light and immediately realized there was no helmet view screen filtering his vision. He flexed automatically and realized he had a right hand he _could_ flex. He glanced at Luke, who opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

He rose his hand and scratched an itch on his brow. No helmet blocked his way and fuzz hit his finger. He blinked. Hair. He scratched the top of his head. Stubble. His hair was growing back. Impossible. His burns had been to severe to allow it to return. Yet there it was. He took note of his hand, which looked like flesh and blood. It was a top of the line prosthetic, modern and normal looking. Most people would never be able to tell it apart from a real one.

He pushed himself up. And as he sat up and looked around he realized suddenly his other arm somehow felt different. He pulled it up and it matched the other. He looked at Luke, who had a faint, hopeful smile on his face. Clearly, he hoped he'd be pleased. He shifted his legs. It turned out they moved fine too. They felt strong. He carefully glanced under the light blanket covering him. He wore a light set of pajamas and the sight of his legs and feet made him blink wildly. He looked at Luke again.

Bewildered he said, "What did you do?"

"Saved you. They had to use some new experimental techniques, but it worked. How do you feel?"

"Ah...strong." He was surprised. "I thought I told you to leave me?"

Luke gave him a look of fierce pride and determination. "I told you I wouldn't."

Anakin stared in mild amazement. Perhaps parents who raised their children had opportunity to witness the way they combined the traits of the father and mother. For Anakin, finding out his son was still alive, it was a new source of wonder. His sheer stubborn determination to save him reminded him of his own refusal to let go of those he loved during the Clone Wars. And his refusal to abandon hope, well, that faith came of his mother.

"Impressive medical care you have here." He finally remarked. "I've been in that thing for your entire life."

Luke nodded slowly. "Time you were out then."

Glancing around and using the force almost without thinking, Anakin sensed no-one near them. No guards, no-one watching. "Does anyone know I'm here? Who I am?"

"Uh … not entirely."

"21B knows your my Father. I asked him not to tell anyone else. No one else knows anything."

"How did you manage that?"

"Well, you shed some of the armor before. You already had me take the helmet off. And I took off some of the uniform. They had no reason to recognize you."

"You lied to them?" Anakin instantly had misgivings. The lie he and Padmé had been forced to live had helped destroy them. If only they'd been able to share the truth with the Jedi, or Obi-Wan. He should've been able to tell Obi-Wan no matter what he feared.

"Not exactly. I just failed to mention where you'd been. I did say you'd been on life support."

Anakin shook his head. "It has to come out eventually. What about your friends? You lied to them too? Wait, are they all right? Leia? Your..." Anakin cut short.

"You figured out it was her, huh?" Luke flushed. "I guess I didn't keep that secret very well. Yes. They're fine."

"It sure came as a shock to me." He'd been a fool. How could he not recognize how like Padme she was, with her feisty, stubborn determination for what she believed was right? Had he been afraid to see it?

"Actually, there is someone missing." Luke said carefully. He hesitated to continue. Anakin waited. Clearly Luke wasn't sure about sharing this information.

"Obi-Wan should've been here by now. Or called at least."

Anakin stared at him. His last encounter with Obi-Wan had been an incredibly near miss on the first death star. Luke had run to rescue the droids - one of them an Artoo unit, which intelligence had found later had carried the Death Star plans. No plans, no way to destroy the Death Star. He'd nearly been overwhelmed by the stormtroopers when Obi-Wan unexpectedly broke off his duel, leaped into their midst and helped him escape. He had not gotten away undamaged, at least one shot had nicked him. In fact, the very leap seemed more than he could manage given how much his power seemed to have faded. Now he had an idea why he was so highly motivated. For a moment there, he thought Obi-Wan was going to let him kill him. He still suspected he had intended too.

"Well…if I might ask, where did he go?"

"We got word that some of our people who we thought were dead were actually crashed and had been stranded on a planet for the last few years. He knew some of them and went to check it out. It was surrounded by Imperial patrol lanes so he figured one person could make his way in and check it out better than a group. Of course, he was also complaining he was too old for this…"

Anakin blinked rapidly. "It's not physical age. He's just had a hard life."

Luke shifted uncomfortably. "Because of you?"

Anakin's smile flickered. "He put me in that mask Luke, not vice versa." Memories of burning on Mustafar made the smile fade. He had felt so betrayed. In fact, he had betrayed Kenobi. Never had he been so cognizant of how his own emotions could lie to him before. "But I know I broke his heart. He was my best friend." He considered for a moment. "And I'm sure I gave him the gray hair. Started that long before I fell in fact." He observed ruefully. "He tried to talk me out of that fight, out of that final jump that scarred me for life. So, yes, I had something to do with making his life harder. Or at least, more complicated." He paused, thinking. "Do you know where he went?"

"Yes."

"Got a datapad?"

"Sure." Luke blinked and handed him a datapad he'd been perusing. Anakin punched in commands and handed it over. Luke blinked at it as he took it.

"Try this. Scan the imperial frequencies on there and run that decryption algorithm. If anyone captured or … well, spotted him, they would've tried to contact me or the Emperor. They still might be trying too."

Luke grinned rising and headed for the door. "Thanks."

Anakin shook his head. "No more than I owe."

"I'll be right..." Rather abruptly Luke crashed into a small astromech who was blocking his passed. He'd been busy studying the data. "Artoo! I'm just going to the ..."

Artoo squealed, shook his head negatively.

"Artoo, I'm fine! And I'm only going to run this ..."

Anakin's eyes widened in recognition. Not only the blue and white form, but every beep and whistle was familiar.

"Artoo-Detoo?"

The droid squawked to a halt. He swiveled his domed head to face Anakin. He nudged forward. Luke fell back and sat. Artoo rolled in and he tried to move passed him again. Artoo let out a scolding series of beeps and retreated to the door. Luke sat down again, frowning, and looked at his father. Anakin had a hand over his mouth, trying to hide the half smile.

"Artoo, I don't need a baby sitter."

Artoo ignored this and carefully rolled up to Anakin. He studied him for a moment then started squealing and rocking in excitement.

Artoo stared at him. Suddenly a holo appeared, he and Obi-Wan fighting.

Anakin flushed and looked away. "I know Artoo. I know I … really went wrong." He refused to look at the image further. Memories of the fire and sulfur and smoke of his own burned flesh. His unreasoning rage at Obi-Wan and Padm´e, triggered entirely by his own guilt and self anger was something he'd need to meditate on and accept. It was a day of crimes of horrid consequence.

The droid whistled questioningly.

"I fell for Palpatine's lies. It's a long story." How could you explain it to a droid? "It's kind of like you letting someone trusted you to reprogram you and they lied and turned you into a bomb or something."

The droid gave an unhappy sound.

Someone knocked some sense into my head." Anakin glanced at Luke with a warm, proud smile.

Luke felt an undeniable flush of warmth as he realized Anakin was proud of him.

"How did you two end up together?" Anakin asked Luke.

Luke was staring in bewilderment. "He was Leia's. He carried the Death Star plans."

"Of course he did. What other droid would be trusted with something like that." He grinned, ignoring the scar tissue it stretched.

Artoo bleeped cockily.

"Do you actually understand him?" Luke suddenly gasped, the implications of the conversation suddenly sank in.

"Yeah, don't you?"

"Some. How do you know him?"

"He was your Mother's. She gave him to me to take care of me during the Clone Wars. Well, she said she wanted me to take care of him, but it was easy to tell who was really taking care of who."

Artoo beeped proudly.

Luke's jaw hung open at this. "My Mother?"

"You did know you had one, right?" Anakin said dryly, even as agony ripped through his heart. Padmé. His dear wife. He'd broken her heart in his effort to save her. Suddenly it registered that if Artoo had witnessed him fighting Obi-Wan, then he probably had a holo of what he did to Padmé. Nausea gripped him at this. He didn't want Luke to see that. He had only just forgiven him. Could he forgive that? He hadn't even been able to forgive himself. Would Artoo keep silent if he asked him too?

Luke wanted to inquire further. But the sudden flare of pain in his father made him pause. He wanted to ask if he loved her. But he realized he didn't need to. He could sense his love for her, his sense of loss. He felt a profound relief at this. His mother was clearly not just some woman that passed through is Father's life.

Artoo beeped abruptly grabbed the datapad out of Luke's hand and rolled to the door.

"I guess he'll take care of it." Anakin remarked.

Luke and Anakin fell silent, partly because they were both still weary from their shared battle. The medical droid came in and gave Luke a cursory check and ran more tests on Anakin.

"Your body is responding well. However, your system will need some time to adjust to a more natural chemical balance. Also you should not overtax your immune system at this stage. How are you feeling?"

"I'm disoriented. My stomach is doing loop the loops and my sinuses hurt." His limbs did too, but that was phantom limb pain and the remains of the limbs getting used to the new prosthetics attached.

"That is because you've been on an unusually liquid diet. The sinuses are reacting because they have to readjust to normal air with particulates. It will be worse when you first go planet side and you should have medication before attempting it."

"Bleah." Luke murmured from the other side of the room.

Anakin's smile flickered, stretching old scars. "I did eat solid food occasionally."

"However, even that was concentrated." The droid clearly knew his limitations.

"Are you trying to make me hungry? Suddenly I'm realizing I haven't had decent food in Luke's entire lifetime."

"That was not my intention. I would suggest started with the healthy, light appetizers rather than a main course or dessert."

"So don't go downing a case of corellian ale?"

"That would not be advisable until you are further along in treatment."

"Figures. Thanks doc. When can I … ah … get out of the infirmary?"

"You might rather soon, but I would not recommend strenuous activity for at least a week. Even then you should keep an inhaler and certain medication with you."

"Beats the way I've been living." Anakin mentally considered if he could shorten that time with jedi healing techniques. He'd never been very adept at them. But the light felt strong now, stronger than in years. And meditating in the light would help him regain spiritual equilibrium in any case.

Luke waited until the droid left before rolling on his side and looking at him. "In a hurry to leave?"

"Leave?"

"You asked when you could get out of the infirmary."

Anakin raised his newly grown eyebrow back at him. "And you tried to leave to read communiques."

Luke just looked at him a moment. "I'm worried about Obi-Wan."

"And yet Artoo can run the communiques." Anakin smiled slightly. "Your bored and hate being stuck in the infirmary out of the action."

Luke's lip twitched in a half smile. "It really is unnerving how you predict me."

"It's really bizarre to look at you and see bits of me and your mother." He looked away suddenly.

By now Luke knew the pattern. He sensed the surge of pain whenever he mentioned his mother. "Are you worried about Obi-Wan at all?"

Anakin sighed. "He's a survivor. But yeah, kind of. I'd really like to talk to him. Yell at him. Plead with him. Just … not fight. Hash things out. We both made mistakes. But in the end, Palpatine knew he had to get him out of the way to get to me. If anyone of the Jedi could've prevented it, it was him."

"Is that one reason you were so angry? You felt he should've been there."

"Yes, kind of. And yes, I know it's not reasonable. I think most of all I'd just like to thank him for training and taking care of you."

Luke blushed at this newly open affection in his father's voice. "It sure is taking Artoo a long time, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."


	3. Chapter 3

Artoo Detoo came rushing up the hall and spun into the medical ward. Artoo squeaked to a halt, rocking and whistling hysterically.

"Slow down, Artoo." Luke told the excited robot.

The droid held out the datapad in it's pincer. Luke took it and read the message. "Nothing on Obi-Wan being captured or killed."

Both Anakin and Luke were relieved at that, but also concerned.

Artoo whistled excitedly.

"So Artoo used the codes you gave him to …" Luke turned to stare at the droid. "He connected through the holonet relays and bounced the signal around to the nearest Imperial base and used it to check Imperial communications and activity in the sector Obi-Wan went to. And he got a hit."

Artoo activated his holo viewer. A planet with two moons appeared, and hovering some distance between that planet and the next one, further out were three star destroyers and two interdictor cruisers.

"Hmm." Anakin sat up. "Where in this is Obi-Wan? That's pretty far out."

"The planet with the two moons is where he was heading." Doubts forgotten, Luke studied the data. "Looks like this fleet might've gotten in his way."

Artoo whistled, the holo view reversed and he replayed a scene. A small ship came out at a distance, not quite in range of the destroyers. They started shooting immediately. The ship was nicked and spun, seemingly out of control toward the planet. Tie fighters pursued. A massive explostion consumed the ship.

Both Skywalkers sucked in a breath.

Artoo pulled up data he'd grabbed from the fighters. He replayed it.

Anakin leaned forward intently. His eyes narrowed. He could sense Luke's muffled fear beside him. Suddenly he smiled. "He faked it."

"What? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." He nodded. "See that explosion? He dumped spare parts and explosives and set them up like he'd been fatally destroyed. Artoo, did they follow up?"

Artoo whistled, domed head shaking as he pulled up the logs.

"The commander ordered them not to follow through." Luke said slowly. "Why would they do that?"

"Incompetence … or impatience to get on with a more important mission."

"I guess that's a good sign. If they knew who he was they'd think he _was_ the more important mission." It flickered into his mind that a more important mission might mean trouble, but for now, he had enough to worry about.

Artoo grumbled. He hadn't dumped the whole Imperial database, just what he thought they needed now.

"You did great Artoo." Anakin said. "We should be careful with those connections. Too many and somebody may tumble that someone with high clearance is alive and in the wrong hands. From a certain point of view that is."

Luke stared at the hologram. "I still feel like he's in danger."

"I do too. But I don't really trust my feelings right now."

"He's trapped there, at the very least. With those fighters so close."

"Yes. He is."

Anakin studied Luke. "Care to meditate on it? Sort out whether it's our concern or the Force talking?"

"Lets."

The meditation brought a surprise.

"Anakin."

His eyes went wide with surprise.

"Qui-Gon?"

Luke opened his eyes, frowning. Staring at the glowing blue form, his jaw dropped and he blinked rapidly. "What?"

"My name is Qui-Gon Jinn." The ghostly spirit smiled. "And I have waited for this day for a long time."

"Oh, Qui-Gon." Anakin whispered, guilt choking him. After all the man had done for him, he'd betrayed and dishonored him. He'd wanted to be like Qui-Gon more than anything.

The Jedi Master held a hand up. "You have done your duty. You have stopped the Emperor at great cost to yourself. Now it's time to begin again."

Anakin licked very dry lips. "What can I do Qui-Gon? I would undo so much if I could."

"I know. As do the others." Qui-Gon smiled. "But the past cannot be changed. Right now, there are some still living that could use your help."

"Obi-Wan?" Luke asked.

"Yes, Luke. Obi-Wan. You should both go."

"Why do I feel like you know me but I don't know you." Luke was bewildered at this strange spirit knowing his name.

"I have watched you, your entire life. Just as I watched your Father from the moment we met." He turned back to Anakin.

"You still have much to learn, Anakin. But keep your focus on the light. You will not have to learn alone."

"Thank you." Anakin whispered as the jedi master faded away.

They collected the medical supplies the doctor recommended. It made sense to take not only what was recommended for Anakin, but also emergency supplies.

"Now. Let's see if I can requisition your shuttle again."

"I sure hope so. We need the cloak."

"I might've neglected to mention that to anyone. So there's a chance. Artoo, how about seeing if we can requisition a couple of those speeder bikes we caught? Be discreet."

The small droid whistled and hurried off.

Luke marched up to the deck officer. "I need to take that shuttle back out."

The officer looked uncertainly at a datapad. "There aren't any missions scheduled for it."

"Consider it scheduled now."

"When do you need to take off?"

"Right now if possible."

Anakin headed for the shuttle. He felt odd and exposed. On the one hand, it was wonderful to blend in by looking so normal. He just wore standard, off duty pilot fatigues. He had a cloak folded over one arm. On the other hand, if they realized who he was, or rather, who he'd been for the last twenty some years, he was in serious trouble. He had no idea how he'd react, or for that matter how he _should_ react. Luke might well defend him, which would get him in trouble with his friends. The place felt so familiar though. The sounds of a hanger, smells of grease and lubricants and soldering parts, the pilots and astromechs checking out vehicles slowly brought a slight smile to his face. No matter which side they were on, ships and their pilots all shared a common interest.

Even as he thought this, he entered the cockpit and stared out the window and recognized a familiar shape. The Millenium Falcon, with Solo, Chewbacca and Calrissian all motioning and talking. He noticed it was missing the sensor dish. He bet Solo was less than happy about that. Solo looked toward the shuttle and called out something.

Artoo was already on board and inputting the coordinates. He'd succeeded in getting the speeder bikes and they were tucked into the cargo area. Anakin took the copilot seat and started the preflight check. Luke practically ran in and sank into the pilot's seat. "We're good to go."

"Uh huh." Anakin looked at him dubiously. "Luke, I can't hide forever. I can't live the lie. Sooner or later …"

"Later." Luke said firmly. "After we find Obi-Wan." He quickly activated the repulsors and lifted off. "And we need to get out of here. Han just saw me and I pretended I didn't hear him. If I explain where were going, they'll want to explain who I'm going with." He spared his father a worried glance and Anakin knew the thought had occurred to him that it had to come out eventually. "Lots of people have defected from the Empire. You killed the Emperor to save me. It'll make a difference. I just need some time to figure out how to explain it."

"If you say so." Anakin thought Luke a bit over optimistic on the subject. He knew he was trying to convince himself as much as Anakin. Some things no explanation could cover.

"So who is this Qui-Gon Jinn?" Luke changed the subject as they headed for the edge of the fleet.

"Obi-Wan didn't mention him?"

"No."

"He was Obi-Wan's master. He was also the Jedi who found me and took me to the Jedi in the first place. He was my hero. I wanted to be like him more than anything." He paused. "He was killed in battle before I was accepted into the Order. His last wish was for Obi-Wan to train me." Anakin paused. "I'm glad you saw him too. For a second there I though I was hallucinating."

"Oh! I thought Yoda trained Obi-Wan. He sent me to him for awhile."

"Yoda's alive?" Anakin cocked his head slowly. There was something in Luke's voice ...

Luke shook his head sadly. "He died last time I went to see him. He was sick. He said he was nine hundred years old."

"Yoda trained everyone at one point or another. He was the grand master of the Jedi Order." Anakin paused staring out at stars as they leaped to hyperspace. "Somehow it felt like he'd be around forever. Hard to picture old age taking him out."

Luke sighed. "He was ready to go. He was tired. He said as much."

"Yeah. He had a right to be."

Luke gave him a sidelong glance at the uncertainty in his voice. "Did he ever train you?"

"Oh, I had the basic stuff with him. Basic lightsaber classes when I was a kid." Anakin blinked rapidly. "I had a hard time identifying with him though. His whole Jedi "must remain unattached" angle … I mean, it's part of the code, but it drove me crazy. Like he was always judging me. He didn't want to let me train. And he didn't want Obi-Wan to train me. That hurt." It occurred to him how whiny he sounded. He hastened to add, "I know it wasn't personal. But, well, I was only a kid and stuff like that leaves an impression ..."

Luke looked puzzled. "Why didn't he want to train you?"

Anakin laughed unexpectedly. "He said I was too old. At nine by the way."

Luke looked bewildered for a moment, then his expression cleared. "So that's why he was so doubtful about training me!" Luke shook his head. "If he thought you were too young it's a wonder he agreed to train me at all!"

"Desperation may have had to do with it in your case. He felt it was dangerous to train me." Anakin scowled. "I wish I hadn't proved him right."

"He couldn't have known you'd fall. Even he said the future is always in motion."

Anakin nodded. "You're right. I could've made a different choice. He told me to let go of what I feared to lose. I took that to mean I had to give up your mother. Of course, he didn't actually know about your mother. But if I'd just asked for help instead of holding on to the idea I had to do it on my own, instead of trusting Palpatine, things might've been very different.

Luke studied him cautiously. "Why … didn't he know about my mother?" He had a feeling it was important.

"He didn't tell you?!" Anakin's expression was almost comical, with wide eyes and jaw hanging open.

Luke shook his head.

Anakin laughed, a disturbed, distressed sound. "Attachment was forbidden. Children taken into the order were too young to remember his parents. Obi-Wan doesn't remember his. And marriage was forbidden." He looked up at Luke. "We had to hide it. Even Obi-Wan didn't know."

Luke's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open. "You couldn't hide … me … us."

Anakin shook his head. "I came back from the front lines after months and just like that she told me she was pregnant."

Luke stared at him. "What would they have done if they knew?"

"Expel me from the order."

"Oh." Luke's voice came out in a whispered croak.

"Unless I left first. I planned too. I was tired of the lie." Anakin's eyes lit into his. "And I wanted to be with my family."

Luke swallowed hard. "What was her name?"

"Padmé. Padmé Naberrie Amidala. We were married right after the battle of Geonosis and the outbreak of the Clone Wars. I was still Obi-Wan's apprentice at the time." Memories threatened to drown him. Love, joy, camaraderie and romance battled against the horror of loss and guilt and shame.

They fell into silence then, Luke sensing the internal battle and leaving him to deal with it. He had his own thoughts to ponder with the new information his father had just given him about his mother and the old Jedi order.

They both had a lot to contemplate.

* * *

_to be continued_


	4. Chapter 4

They came out of lightspeed two systems away to check out the cloaking device. It was ready to go. A few tweaks and they fired it up and jumped to light speed again.

"Are we sure this will work?"

"Yes." Anakin nodded. "Now that we've turned off the transponder."

Coming out of hyperspace, Luke sucked in a breath as he saw how close they were to the security picket. Tie fighters roared past within eyesight. After a moment, he let out the breath slowly. "They didn't see us."

"The only danger is that someone is scanning for unusual magnetic signatures. That's the catch. You have to drop cloak to shield or fire. But once they realize there is a cloaked ship in the area, they can scan for the magnetic frequencies and target the torpedoes to them."

"So that's why they fell out of popularity."

"That and the fact that the needed crystals are rare. The supplies were worn out during the war and the prices sky rocketed. Given that a fair number of people know how to counter them, it's not usually worth the extra money."

They headed for the planet's surface. There was no indication that the ships knew they were there. No hailing or flybys. No laser fire.

"So I guess if we have the cloak on, that rules out raiding their computers with those codes directly to find out what they are doing here?"

"''Fraid so."

There was nothing too bad about the approach either. Setting off along the route to where Obi-Wan's ship had crashed, they could sense his presence. They passed over the site and could see the shattered bits of charred metal pieces though the windscreen. The landing however, proved more difficult.

"Think we can drop the cloak yet?" Luke was concerned. With it up, their own search ability was limited.

"Mm." Anakin's eyes were half shut. "We're on the far side from the nearest ship. I don't sense any patrols nearby. What about you?"

Luke closed his eyes and reached out. "I don't either. I think we have to chance it." He deactivated the cloak, holding his breath. No sense or sign of danger. They remained unnoticed. "Safe."

"I wouldn't go that far. Let's not linger."

"Hey, look over there!" Luke pointed.

"Looks like a village."

"Smoldering. That's fairly recent. Looks like they decided to send a patrol down after all."

"So, what should we pick?" Anakin mused, frowning at the landscape below. "Wide open spaces where a flyby can pick us off or hunting for a hole we can sneak through the trees? Or crash through them and hope they don't notice the hole?"

"I'm always game for a challenge."

Anakin smiled as Luke stayed just above treetop level, searching for the elusive opening that would prevent an obvious entry hole.

"There. That one feels right." Luke said.

"I agree." Anakin kept an eye on the external passive sensors. Nothing in sight. "Could that village have been the survivors he's looking for?"

"Maybe. I sure hope they weren't in it."

Luke slid through the hole carefully dipping sideways. He slowed carefully and eased forward, crunching through some underbrush, rotated so the ship was pointing back out.

"Very nice."

"Thanks."

They paused to look out of the forest. Giant blue green flowers twined around tree trunks and joined with the myriad yellow green leaves far over head. Small white flowers circled the floor.

Gathering supplies, they both paused at the bottom of the ramp. Anakin took in a deep breath of flower and plant laden air. He sneezed hard and repeatedly.

"Careful with that immune system." Luke said, suddenly concerned. "Did you take the meds?"

"Yes. Well" Anakin resisted another sneeze. "At least I know I've still got a functional immune system."

Luke grinned. "That's looking on the bright side."

"Amazing how much brighter everything is since the Emperor is dead."

Artoo beeped at them from the top of the ramp. They both hesitated and looked at each other.

"Should we leave him here or take him?" Luke asked.

"I hate to leave him …"

"He could try and bounce a signal around again and pull a download from those destroyers."

"He doesn't need to be here to do that. And they are just as likely to intercept the transmission when he went to call us about it. And there is no telling how far he'd have to go to find us."

"True. I guess it's strap him to a bike."

"Unless he uses his rockets the whole way."

"They aren't strong enough."

"Since when?"

Luke looked blank. Artoo grumbled something.

"Never mind. Now I think about it, someone might notice the jet burn."

They got out the bikes and carefully strapped Artoo on the back.

"Ready?" Luke asked.

"Let's go."

They started very slow, flying over, around and through the high tight knit foliage of the woods through rust colored grass. They kept to the cover of the overhanging canopy as much as possible. Birds fluttered away as they approached. Insects chittered. A small mammal leaped, spread four paws to reveal colorful webbing and soared between the trees. Luke glanced at his father and noticed the smile flickering, the way he kept turning every direction every so often. Partly he was watching for Imperial patrols, Luke could sense that automatic alertness of a warrior. But partly he was just enjoying the place, and for that Luke was very glad. "It's just as well it's shady." Luke observed. The air was warm and moist, but not too hot. It felt like the aftermath of a spring rain.

"Yeah." Anakin pulled the cap he'd borrowed further down on his brow. The cloak was too warm for now. "It's a good thing he didn't crash on Tatooine. I'd get one horrific sunburn."

Luke smiled at this. "You ever been anywhere like this?"

"Bit like Naboo. Bit like Kashyyyk. Bit like Alderaan…" His voice faded a little. So many of his memories were stained by Vader.

Luke hesitatingly ventured "I get the feeling I'd deal better than Leia. I mean, I don't miss much about Tatooine."

Anakin gave a snort of not quite amused laughter. "Instead of an asteroid belt you'd get an enormous sandstorm. There are people there that deserve better though." His voice faded, thinking of his mother's grave. He felt ill at the idea of it being destroyed like that. For the first time it hit him that the stormtroopers had really slain his family. His step family, true, but still, they'd cared for and raised his son. They'd taken in his mother. In a very real sense, the troops had desecrated his mother's grave. His muscles tightened in distress. His fault.

"Are you all right?"

"I just … I'm sorry about Owen and Beru. How … how did it happen? I know what the report said but I'm not fool enough to trust it. They always pad those to make themselves look better."

Luke looked uncertainly at him. "We bought the droids with the Death Star plans from the jawas." Luke flushed suddenly in embarrassment. Anakin noticed and his brow rose slightly. "Artoo lured me into taking off the restraining bolt with a hologram of Leia. All I could get out of him was that it was a private message for Obi-Wan Kenobi and he belonged to him. He only showed a bit of the message, enough that I knew she was in trouble. He said the restraining bolt was blocking his ability to play the full message. Then when I took it off he said "What message?"

Anakin burst into laughter at that. "Sneaky isn't he?"

Luke smiled a little, embarrassed but pleased to see him happy. "Anyway, I got called to dinner and when I came back...no Artoo. I raced out the next morning to try and track him down before Uncle Owen knew he was gone. That's when I ran into the sand people. Ben...Obi-Wan ran them off. I was taking him and the droids to Anchorhead," his voice shook. "We came on the sandcrawler and I just knew. I got back and it was all burned. They were burned."

Anakin cringed. "I am so sorry." He said, meaning it with all his heart.

"Did you know him? I know he was your step brother but that's it. They wouldn't talk about you much and then they lied and said you were just a navigator on a space freighter."

"Not quite a lie. I have navigated plenty of space freighters. I only met them once." Anakin's voice was very flat. He hesitated. "When Mom was taken by the sandpeople." He sighed. "I'd had nightmares for weeks, but didn't know they were visions. It can be hard to tell, sometimes. By the time I decided I was going, no matter what the Jedi Council thought or said …"

Luke just looked at him waiting.

"I found her just in time for her to die in my arms. I hadn't seen her in ten years."

Luke winced. "I'm sorry. That's awful. No wonder Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru were so determined to pound into my head a fear of sandpeople."

"They had to pound it, huh?"

Luke shrugged. "I wanted adventure."

"I'll bet. Moisture farm in the middle of nowhere. Not even a seedy tavern to sneak in and listen to the space pilots."

"Did you do that when you were a kid?"

"All the time."

"Until you joined the Jedi."

Anakin smirked. "Well … I might've snuck out of the temple and into a few places even after. That's probably what started Obi-Wan's gray hair."

"Why do I get the feeling you know a lot of stories that are less then flattering to Obi-Wan?"

"I can flatter Obi-Wan. The fact that he put up with me for all those years means he deserves a medal for patience and determination. Anyone else would've either kicked me out or strangled me." Anakin sniffed. "Of course, it's much more fun to tease him than flatter him."

"You've missed him." Luke observed.

"I wouldn't have hated him so much if I hadn't loved him in the first place. Or been so angry if deep down, I didn't miss him. I was with him more than not for a good ten years of my life."

"Well, now you can be with him again."

"If he'll have me." Anakin replied faintly.

His eyes brightened suddenly. The forest was opening up a bit. Artoo was solid behind him on the speeder bike. He glanced at look with mischief in his gaze. "Ready to pick it up?"

He shot forward, his speeder accelerating too fast for an answer to be heard. Over fallen logs, around rocky outcroppings he flew at reckless pace.

Startled, Luke recognized the half challenge, half sheer joy of his father's impulse and pursued. They chased each other over and through the woods at high speed. Luke couldn't quite catch up, perhaps because he wasn't quite as reckless, until his father suddenly slammed on the brakes and twisted in air, slaloming off a near solid wall where the forest narrowed again. Artoo wailed.

"Whoa!" Luke yelped.

Scowling, Anakin zoomed along the edge. When he finally found an opening he paused, hovering.

"Well?" Luke asked, coming alongside. "That's awfully tight."

"I don't know..." It was rather tight through there. "Let's split up along the edge for a few minutes and see if either of us finds a wider opening."

Luke was frowning too. "Yeah. Okay."

They didn't actually zoom out of sight, and certainly not out of force sense range. Due to the terrain here they didn't have too. Finally they met back where they started.

"Nothing." Luke said. He carefully steered into the maze of trees before them.

Anakin opened his mouth then shut it. They spent several moments slowly going through the maze of forest but they kept having to slow down until finally they both stopped, neither having to say anything.

"Stang." Luke stated calmly.

Anakin stared at the path ahead. Right here it widened enough to come alongside of each other. But after the turn it narrowed, lowered and was too tight for the speeder bikes.

They looked at each other.

"Guess it's the slow way from here." Luke said. He dismounted and removed the pack off the bike, strapping it on. Anakin was busy letting Artoo down, followed by his pack which had his medication in it.

They both paused to look at the speeder bikes. They glanced at each other and then suddenly Luke laughed. "It feels like I'm leaving a friend..."

"That was fun wasn't it?" Anakin smiled ruefully.

They hiked into the narrow path almost side by pushed through the tall grass right behind. For some time the continued through the tight maze of trees.

Their trek suddenly turned uphill, where they paused and circled a large clearing and started down into a valley with a stream. Splashing lightly through it, they both paused as they sensed someone was watching. The only sound they heard was a bird letting out a three note caw. Anakin's eyes slid sideways, meeting Luke's. That was no bird.

Artoo let out a soft, worried trill.

'Not Imperial?' Luke mouthed.

Anakin shook his head. Not likely. An Imperial would've just used the com, not bird calls. They had no reason not to use the comlinks.

Luke considered, shrugged, and they both hitched their backpacks higher. They started forward carefully. A small thrill went through the young jedi as he realized how easily he and his father synced now.

They reached a small hill and from the top, they could see quite a distance through the trees. The smell of smoke lingered and ash still blackened an area up ahead. A piece of smoldering metal suggested some of Obi-Wan's decoy explosion had landed here and set a fire. The smell of smoke lingered and ash still blackened an area up ahead.

"I see something." Luke kneeled, stretched full length, putting his elbows on the ground and pulled out the binocs, focusing on an area ahead. "It's him! It's Obi-Wan!"

"Can I see?"

Luke handed him the binocs and felt him stiffen beside him. His breath became ragged and he yanked out the inhaler and took a few puffs. Finally he demanded "Who did you say they found alive?"

"I didn't. But it was Senator Organa. Turned out he was making a supply run to a secret colony when Alderaan blew up."

"And who else?" Anakin demanded.

"I don't know. A message only recently got through. But it cut off in a hurry. They couldn't stay in touch with the Empire so close. They would've heard the transmission."

"I'm hallucinating. That can't be … it can't be that many people I knew down there. I'm going crazy..." He shivered, rolling over and staring at the overhanging trees.

"Who? What?"

"Never mind. Let's just…go."

* * *

to be continued


	5. Chapter 5

They warily turned through a maze of trees and bushes. Anakin was shaken and distracted. It took him time to notice anything amiss. He was clearly shaken and distracted. "Hmm." Anakin's eyes were studying the vegetation, wary.

Luke remarked "This looks a little too well knit for a natural maze. It almost looks woven together." Suddenly something whizzed and thumped at their feet. An arrow quivered there.

"Halt. Identify yourselves."

"My name is Luke Skywalker. I'm looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi. He's my friend and mentor." Luke reached into the force, hoping to sense the old jedi nearby.

"And what about the other guy?"

Anakin was suddenly confronted with an identity crisis. Giving his name was going to give him immediate attention and raise questions he was in no hurry to answer. Giving his title as Darth Vader would just get him shot. He decided to stall. "You haven't given your name yet either."

"I'm holding the weapons here."

"Therefore you can afford to be generous." Anakin suggested.

"I don't think so."

"I have a lightsaber. You have a bow and arrow." Luke fired back,abruptly recognizing his father's dilemma.

"We have blasters, we just save them for Imperials. Convince me you aren't one."

"A blaster against a lightsaber…" Luke started to point out hesitantly.

Anakin suddenly realized they were being surrounded, probably by their assailant's backup. "Anakin. My name is Anakin. And any demonstrations of blasters and lightsabers might just attract those Imperials you are anxious to avoid."

A moment of silence. "Just wait there."

For a few moments, they waited. Suddenly people swarmed out of the trees. Most were human. There was a rodian and a torgrutan, however, along with a wookiee. They quickly took Luke's lightsaber and searched the backpacks. Anakin was unarmed and he did his best to look unthreatening.

"This way." The togrutan took point. The wookiee fell in right behind and the rest spread out to either side.

Luke and Anakin exchanged a glance. They moved through the woods silently, so silent that when Luke started to speak they hushed him. They were not taking a direct route. When he stepped on a twig, he got a glare. He was no amateur at these things but these people took the silent scouting to a whole new level. Anakin had apparently shifted into silent mode and Luke found himself watching admiringly. Apparently it was one of those Jedi techniques he hadn't learned yet. He felt a flicker of worry that maybe it was a Sith one. But no, there was no aura of darkness. If anything it was the shimmer of light.

Suddenly a distant shot rang out. Birds took off and the distant sound of thundering panicked animals crying out in fright. Their escorts looked disgusted. "Target practice. Imperial patrol."

"We need to hurry."

They came into a tight knit area with a small overhanging cliff. Their escort split then. "We need to ride the rest of the way." The leader announced.

The animals they led out were unfamiliar. Quadrupeds with neat, dished faces and a central horn with two tiny ones on either side of it. They had long slim legs and cloven hooves, with a long rope like tail with tassles of silken hair dangling from it. They had long streaked manes and were the colors of the forest, grays, browns and tans.

"You four, go back and keep an eye on that patrol." The leader motioned to his recon team.

"You two know how to ride a riocornus?"

"Never heard of it." Anakin said less than enthusiastically. "I've ridden suubatars."

"I've ridden tauntauns." Luke said slowly.

"Well, mount up. Be careful they're skittish."

"What about Artoo?"

"One of the scouts shook her head. "You'll have to leave the droid with those of us staying here, unless you can get it on one of them."

Luke frowned at this, not happy at the idea of leaving his droid alone here.

No question about it, the creatures were dancing nervously as if the ground was red hot. The occasional distant scream clearly upset them.

Luke managed to mount up on the jumpy creature. He looked at his father. In spite of his doubts, his father had one hand out lightly near the larger animal's head. Luke's eyes widened. Carefully Anakin held the beast still, gently motioning to Artoo. Artoo fired thrusters.  
"Cut them, Artoo." The droid gave a low doubful whistle.

"One of us will hold onto you, believe me. We won't let you fall."

Luke reached out with the Force, catching the droid as his father did. The droid lowered into the saddle and Anakin strapped him in place. The animal started to back up but Anakin held him tight. The creature's head dipped to look at him. The animal seemed fascinated, as if mesmerized. Luke reached into the Force, trying to sense what his father was doing.

Mouth hanging open one of the scouts gaped at him in surprise. "You can ride the other one then." She stared. "Jedi. You're jedi!"

Anakin gave a short nod to her first comment and ignored the second. He mounted quickly. Blinking rapidly Luke came alongside. "I'm impressed. How did you do that? Calm it down I mean?"

"I just calmed it with the force." He murmured as the leader impatiently grabbed both their reins.

"We do the steering." The leader said firmly, passing the reins of Luke's mount to another. Luke's brows rose.

Anakin shrugged and crossed his arms. Artoo's mount surged alongside and he reached out and lightly rubbed the droid's dome. "You'll be fine Artoo." The droid was whistling uneasily.

It took a long time, and both were highly aware that they were not taking a straight line to the Jedi master. Either they were going this way to avoid a patrol or they were being led on a wild route to prevent them from retracing their steps if they weren't who and what they claimed.

They came into an area where the trees suddenly seemed to skyrocket, leading to an enormous cave entrance. Looking around, they noticed that from this area the tree canopy appeared to be almost strapped together with vines.

"Do you think…?" Luke murmured.

"Yes." His breath sounded faint. "Camouflage."

"Do you need your medicine?" Luke asked as they slowed to a halt. There was activity near the cave entrance. People were approaching.

Anakin just shook his head. His issue wasn't so much physical. He took a moment to recenter himself and do some relaxation exercises. He felt the force calm, felt the life around him, the unfamiliar and the familiar. And the very familiar. His eyes shot open.

"Obi-Wan!" Luke cried out in relief.

Anakin looked up and for the first time in twenty odd years, saw his old master with his own eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy Star Wars Day and May the 'Fourth' Be With You!**

_now, on with the story:_

* * *

Anakin covered his sudden uncertainty by dismounting and turning to help Artoo. The droid was whistling, worried at how to get down. He couldn't activate his jets without burning the animal.

"I'll get him." Luke said, reaching into the Force and letting the droid float to the ground. The scout leader's eyes were wary but wide with interest.

Anakin held the jittery steed, stroking it's neck and soothing it. It was amazingly easy, easier than he'd ever found it even in his days as a jedi. Perhaps because he was truly content himself. Seeing Obi-Wan he felt a profound relief that he was back where he belonged. No misgivings could override the feeling.

Obi-Wan studied Luke briefly and then turned a mere glance to Anakin. "Did I miss something?" The Jedi's expression was guarded. "I felt a massive tremor in the Force."

Anakin shifted slightly, handing the reins to the scout, who led the two mounts away. Obi-Wan surely had sensed his presence, just as he had sensed Obi-Wan's. Never had his former master been so expert at concealing his reaction as now. All he got by reaching out was that Obi-Wan's mental shields were up.

"The Emperor is dead. The second Death Star is destroyed and the Imperial fleet is scattered." Luke smiled.

Kenobi turned to Anakin. His expression tightened.

Luke opened his mouth, closed it again. This was something they would have to work out. He tightened his lips worried and glanced around. He'd never seen Obi-Wan look so stern.

"Hey." Anakin finally forced out. He also had to force himself to look Obi-Wan in the eye. Gravity seemed to pull his gaze down in shame.

Kenobi still just looked at him.

"Thank you for training him." Anakin finally said. "You did brilliant. He was brilliant. He beat him."

"But he killed him." Luke put in, unable to keep silent.

Anakin nodded slightly. "But he'd already won. When he wouldn't turn … Palpatine was so angry. And I knew he'd won. And I couldn't let him kill him for making the choice I wished I'd made."

Obi-Wan's eyes held his, studying him. Anakin kept his own shields down. He felt Obi-Wan reaching out with the Force, sensing the aura of peace that had replaced the black hole of the dark side around him. And then were his eyes, tired, with dark circles around them but they were his normal blue, no sign of the hate filled yellow of the Sith.

The awkward, intense moment was broken when Anakin sneezed again, repeatedly.

"I really think you should take those meds …" Luke observed.

"Right. Sure." Anakin coughed. He sighed.

Obi-Wan turned to the bags the scouts had dropped. Luke pointed out the medicine and Obi-Wan handed them to Anakin.

"Bit overwhelming after all those years in the mask." Kenobi observed, too politely.

"Yes. I'll take the sneezing over the mask though." Anakin ignored the brief thought that Obi-Wan had put him there. It didn't raise his anger like before. It dawned on him the question was asked to test his reaction to that reminder. Anakin's eyes opened again and he froze. He blinked hard, staring over Obi-Wan's shoulder.

Bail Organa had appeared and he had a pistol pointed at him. But that he hardly noticed. It was the two figures beyond him that had him blinking rapidly, eyes watering, part from his confused sinuses, but more from being overwhelmed with emotions. He had to be hallucinating. Surely two of the people he'd missed the most, one lost and one dead couldn't be here. Especially one who was dead.

But Force sense didn't hallucinate did it? Was this some false vision? He could feel it was really them. He took a half step forward only to be blocked by Organa. The man radiated fear.

Obi-Wan gently laid his hand on Anakin's arm. Luke looked up, following his father's gaze.

"Who is it?"

Anakin looked pleadingly at Obi-Wan. "Is it really them or am I going crazy?"

"We have much to discuss. However if you've turned your back on the dark side, I'd tend to call it going 'sane'."

Anakin swallowed hard, looking past them. He could've flattened Organa easily. But Leia flickered in his mind. He'd raised her. He couldn't hurt Organa. Not now. He didn't really want too, just shove him out of the way. But he wouldn't risk it.

But while he was blocked, they weren't.

"Ani?"

"Anakin?"

Anakin gulped, wanting to hug them, to hug both of them.

They darted around Organa.

"What…how…?" He pleaded. "I thought you were dead. I saw your funeral."

"We faked it. They faked it. Even my family thinks I'm dead. I did nearly die. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ani. I wanted to try and reach out to you again, to find out what he did to you, to try and make you see what was happening to you. But I couldn't risk you finding me, finding out th ..."

Bail looked alarmed. She caught herself.

"…he was alive. After what Palpatine did to you, I couldn't risk him getting our son."

Luke's jaw dropped.

Artoo let out a soft, amused twitter.

"It's okay to say 'they'. I know about Leia." Anakin eyed Organa, who was tightening his grip until his fingers were white knuckled. "I understand. It was my own fault I lost my family. Well, mine and Palpatine's."

Bail glanced at Obi-Wan, worried. Obi-Wan's shield flickered with uncertainly when he admitted this. The old Jedi looked at Luke, who shrugged helplessly.

"I didn't tell him on purpose..." Luke murmured.

Padmé took a step forward. She ducked around Bail.

"Padmé…" He warned, grabbing her arm.. "he's been a Sith for years. He stood by while Alderaan was destroyed. He murdered the Jedi. Those who escaped the temple massacre, he hunted down..."

Anakin winced, the brief memory of those deaths stinging his memory.

She looked between them with tears in her brown eyes. The simple homespun style garb she wore only accented her natural beauty. "I know what he did. You told me what he did. But I also know… I always knew, there was still good in him. I knew why he did it..." She looked back at Anakin. "I'm sorry Anakin. I knew you were lost and confused. And I know that vision scared you. I should've insisted we go right then, or go to the Jedi and tell them the truth and get help…"

Anakin gaped at her. "Your blaming yourself? That's insane!"

"And I blame myself for not training you better." Obi-Wan said sharply. "None of us knew the danger from Palpatine. Not in time. He had far too long to get inside our … your defenses."

"Now your defending him!" Bail sputtered angrily.

"No, I'm just observing there is plenty of blame to go around. Anakin is not the only one who based critical decisions on his trust of Palpatine." Kenobi firmly stated. "Perhaps the only one who realized how blind we were becoming was Ahsoka."

Anakin smiled slightly. "I missed you, Snips." He cocked his head. "You've grown up so much." She was a woman now. A beautiful, full grown togrutan woman.

"Of course." Ahsoka smiled back. It faded slightly. "I demand to share the blame too." She put her hands on her hips. "I knew darned well without me around you and Obi-Wan would get in over your heads."

Obi-Wan looked disgruntled, Anakin opened his mouth and Padme burst out laughing.

Luke just looked confused. "Um. Hey…"

"Oh. Sorry." Anakin recognized Luke's shock. "This is your mother, Padme."

She blinked back tears and smiled at him. "I'm so glad to finally see you again." She reached out a cautious hand and pulled him into a hug. "I pried news out of Obi-Wan but I've thought of you every single day."

Luke hesitantly returned it, blushing a bit at the unexpected praise.

"And this is Ahsoka Tano, my former padawan."

Luke stepped back from his mother, surprised. "You had an apprentice?" Luke gaped at his father then turned to her. "So you're a Jedi too?"

"Not exactly. I left the Order before…well, before."

"Ahsoka was framed for a crime she didn't commit. The Council voted…not unanimously and no, before you ask, I did not vote for it …to cast her out and allow the military to try her." Obi-Wan stated calmly.

"Anakin cleared me. He wanted me to come back. But…" Ahsoka's eyes dropped, then rose again. She met Luke's but then turned back to Anakin and lingered. "I'd lost my confidence. I'd always believed the Jedi were my family. But then they just tossed me out. I was no longer confident they'd do the right thing." She stepped forward and touched Anakin's hand. "Now that I know about Padme and the twins, I can well imagine why you were reluctant to trust the Council with them." She looked sad. "I'm so sorry we didn't see what Palpatine was trying to do to you."

Anakin gripped her shoulder in return. His eyes roamed the group and Padme suddenly rushed forward and wrapped him in a bear hug. Bail flung his hands in the air in frustration. "Am I the only one who is mad at him? Who doesn't trust him? Who remembers the nightmare he put us all through?"

Obi-Wan just covered his eyes and rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. Nonetheless, a small smile tugged the corner of his mouth.

Ahsoka crossed her arms across her chest. "Hey, I had an advantage when I hid from Darth Vader because I was trained by Anakin." She nodded sharply. "And if I don't have to have to hide anymore, I'm all for it! He believed in me, once, even when I made mistakes. And I know him. This is my Anakin. This is Skyguy, not Vader. I know! I can feel it!" Her eyes held Anakin's and he knew that she while she was happy to see him and wanted to trust him, she also wanted answers. She was definitely going to grill him later.

Skyguy? Luke mouthed. Anakin just rolled his eyes with a flicker of a smile.

Luke's eyes roamed the group. His mother was hurt and a bit angry at his father, but nonetheless glad to see him. Obi-Wan was relieved but wary as well. Ahsoka was a complicated package, she had a wait and see attitude. Bail Organa was mostly frightened, a bit angry and suspicious.

"So, we came to help. What's the situation?" Luke finally asked.

"The situation is, we're trapped here." Bail growled, not taking his eyes off Anakin.

Obi-Wan peered thoughtfully at his former apprentice. "How did you get through without a fight?"

Bail's suspicions skyrocketed again, judging by the way his hand flexed on his weapon.

"When we fled the second Death Star we took his shuttle." Luke stated.

"It has a cloaking device." Anakin finished.

"That could be handy." Ahsoka pointed out.

"We can't evacuate two hundred plus people in a shuttle." Bail snorted.

"Do you have a ship?" Luke asked. "What happened to yours? The last supply drop was supposedly destroyed. We thought the colony was lost with it."

"It crashed." Ahsoka announced. She motioned to the cave. "We've been repairing it in there and it's mostly fixed. Trouble is, it's not up to handling what's up there right now. And they've been there for months."

"Months?" Luke was startled. "What are they looking for?"

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Anakin.

He drew back slightly, held his hands up slowly, palms out. "I don't know off the top of my head what every sector fleet is up too."

"But if they didn't leave even to join the main fleet at Endor it must be important." Luke observed.

"Very likely." Anakin cocked his head. "So let's hope Artoo finds a way to bounce through that download.

Artoo suddenly squealed, going up to Padme and rocking excitedly.

"Artoo? Is it really you?"

The droid beeped excitedly.

"I thought he was with ..." She hesitated.

"I left the droid with Leia." Bail said, in a 'I don't see why one droid is better than another' tone.

"Haven't caught them up on everything Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked, brow raised.

"It took me time to get here on foot." He sniffed. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Are you seriously telling me that you came here not knowing?" Bail demanded, understandably disbelieving.

Anakin sighed. "I didn't plan to come back any more than I planned to fall. And I don't really think advertising I'm alive is a good plan."

"Couldn't you just order them to leave?" He sounded somewhat sarcastic.

"In the short run, maybe. But I'd have to be a murdering tyrant to do it. The only way to hold a Sith empire together is to be a Sith. And I don't want to be a Sith. I can't change what I did yesterday but I sure don't have to be one today."

"No please. We would all prefer you _not_ be one today." Obi-Wan interjected firmly. "He's right. It's dangerous for him even to pretend. Too dangerous, for all of us." His eyes were boring into Anakin as if they could bore right through too his soul. Maybe they could.

Anakin flushed and nodded. It brought on another sneeze. He sighed.

"Artoo is using his code and trying to discreetly look up what's going on." Luke said defensively. "If they think he's dead, they won't have any reason to change his codes, right?"

"Sounds right to me." Ahsoka put in firmly. Her eyes sparkled and she looked at her old master appraisingly.

He could feel her reaching out with the force, the gentle brush she'd always used when checking up on him. He'd always kept her out. Now he didn't particularly try. He let her feel how he felt. Overwhelmed. Guilty, ashamed remorsefully, relieved and joyous all at once.

She smiled and nodded slightly, touched Obi-Wan's sleeve. Anakin could feel his master checking too, he suspected he'd been doing it during the whole conversation. No wonder he was so silent. He'd been monitoring how he reacted to the accusations and the greetings, matching his how he felt in the force to his emotions and actions.

"I suggest we go inside and catch up on events over the evening meal." Kenobi suggested, an idea that was agreed to by all, even Organa, reluctantly. Padme gripped Anakin in one hand and Luke in the other and started to lead them to the cave. Anakin felt a sudden, firm pressure on one shoulder. He glanced aside to meet Obi-Wan's eyes. Just passed him Bail followed, weapon still at ready. His old master gave his shoulder a cautionary squeeze and Anakin nodded. He needed to be on his best behavior. His family might be willing to give him the opportunity to prove himself. Bail Organa would shoot first and ask questions later rather than risk his people to Darth Vader.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Happy Revenge of the Fifth everyone!_**

* * *

It was an awkward meal. Bail kept glaring at Anakin. Anakin focused on the food in order to deflect the memories of the times when he'd shared meals with Organa as a friend and comrade.

"How did you end up here, Ahsoka?" Luke asked.

"After I left the order, I wandered for awhile, trying to sort out my life. Anyway, after Order 66 I had a vision. It kept coming to me. I stayed on the move for quite awhile. I wasn't sure if I would be on their hit list, since I'd left the Jedi. But I figured I'd be safer going to ground. Others were trying to disappear as well, for one reason or another. I decided to join a group. I knew I was on the right track when the ship I was to join was the one in my vision.

I wasn't trying to use the Force, but it guided me to Padmé. She was at the refugee colony. Believe me, it was a shock. I'd seen the news about her death." Ahsoka blinked and Padmé́ reached out and gripped her hand. "I was so glad she was all right. She defended me when Tarkin prosecuted me. And she vouched for me with Senator Organa, insisted I could help with the scouting and supplies."

As he watched Luke asking Ahsoka questions, his gaze landed on Luke's right hand and his stomach twisted. He stopped eating. He glanced at Obi-Wan. His old master hadn't exactly been staring at him. But his attention had never truly turned away either. His sense was guarded but cautiously hopeful. Suddenly fear clawed at Anakin's throat. Padmé was hurt and angry, but still believed he had good in him. A more generous response after how he'd destroyed their dreams than he'd dared hope for, even had he known she was still alive.

How would she react when she found out what he'd done to their children? Bail had been out of touch since before Leia's capture. What would happen when Padmé found out about Luke's prosthetic hand and Leia's torture? The thought sickened him. Now he had to worry about that, just as he had to wonder what would happen if Luke saw Artoo's holo of him attacking his mother.

Kenobi suddenly spoke up. "They've been having trouble getting the engines configured to handle the jury rigged repairs on the ship. Without it, we haven't got much of a chance at outrunning the destroyers."

Organa looked askance at him. But Obi-Wan kept his eyes on Anakin. "I think I know someone who might be able to pull it off."

"Now wait a minute!"

"He won't be alone. I'll be with him." Kenobi's voice was firm.

"Please Obi-Wan. Be careful."

Anakin's eyes dropped in shame. There was no way to make up with Bail Organa. He'd stood by and tacitly agreed to allow his entire planet to be blown up.

"I'll be fine." Kenobi stated firmly. "Come on."

Anakin hopped up with relief and followed his old master. The ship was an old corellian blockade runner. It was clearly patched and pieces were missing. They headed up the ramp and toward the engines. Anakin stopped short, blinking. "I forgot what a master of understatement you were. Who jury rigged this? A kowakian monkey lizard?"

"No, just a bunch of desperate people. They've had nothing else to do but survive and hide since they crashed. Until that fleet started hanging out in orbit, they at least didn't have to worry about patrols."

Shaking his head, Anakin picked up the toolbox and considered where to begin. He sat down to study the situation. It took him a few minutes of sorting to figure out what they had done and what damage they were compensating for.

"You can't hide forever." Obi-Wan remarked finally, sitting calmly and tinkering with some of the unfinished wiring.

"What do you mean?"

"Your fear. You've come back to where you began. But you are still afraid, though now you aren't hiding it from me. What are you afraid of Anakin? Only by facing it will you truly be free of the dark side."

Anakin wiped sweat from his brow. He blinked at it in surprise. "I know I can't hide. There is so much one normally does that gets taken for granted. Little things like sweating or breathing or tasting. I can't take them for granted any longer." He sat back. "I need my family, Obi-Wan. I don't deserve them. But without their light and faith I wouldn't have come back. I wasn't strong enough. But Luke lent me some of his. So yes. I'm afraid. For all they've forgiven me, there are still things…" his voice trailed off, head bowed. "And I know that isn't fair to them, it's my responsibility to maintain control of my my morals and sanity, not theirs."

He turned his head slowly to look at Obi-Wan. "I don't know how she can be so glad to see me. And when she finds out what I did to them…" He slumped onto the deck, pressing his forehead to his knees, clenching them tightly.

"She was angry at me as well, my friend. Angry as she realized I'd hurt you, possibly killed you."

"You tried to talk me out of it." He was surprised by this and by being called 'friend'.

"The point is, forgiveness is a choice Anakin. It's a gift. You don't give it just for the transgressor. It's a gift for oneself. The release of the anger and hurt so it can do no more harm. So the one who hurt you no longer has power over you."

"Some pain is too great for that. And what if the one who hurt you is yourself?"

"Anakin. Contrary to what you may have believed I had loved and been in loved. And I did hurt, and terribly, when those I loved died. And it did test my convictions."

Anakin cringed, knowing how many of them he had slain. Then he thought of Duchess Satine, of Siri Tachi, woman Obi-Wan had loved but refused to admit his love for. He had not lashed out, no matter how desperately it hurt. Then again, his master hadn't had the fear of losing them in advance. For the most part, their death was very sudden.

"I learned to let it go. Not because I didn't love them, but because I did. It was what they would've wanted for me. But it wasn't easy. It's a choice. Day after day, moment after moment, to accept the feeling and let it go. And when it comes back to do it again and again."

Anakin blinked back stinging tears. "I am so, so, sorry."

"Do you remember Lanteeb? What you said to the scientist there?"

Anakin nodded and shook his head. "The planet with that horrible bioweapon. The scientist? Yeah,vaguely. I trusted her and she betrayed us."

"But then she repented and blew up the bio lab with her inside."

Anakin closed his eyes.

"You told her that you believed in forgiveness. That there was always a way forward. That you would help."

"You never equated that with the sith."

"The sith were never you." Obi-Wan's voice was tired. "Did you know … you'll remember we once had to pick up Yoda after a mission to negotiate with Dooku on Vjun."

Anakin gave him a pained look. "Yeah. Now Vader has…had a castle there."

Kenobi just nodded. "I didn't know Dooku well. But he trained Master Qui-Gon. And Yoda, he knew him as a boy. The sith of the stories were one thing and Maul another. But sith you know personally? All the rules changed. Palpatine snuck up on us in a way we never saw coming for all our previous knowledge of the sith. And Dooku…Yoda tried to reach out to him. To draw him back to the light. He didn't succeed but he made the effort. If you are truly willing to stay here, I will help."

Anakin's eyes dropped. "Palpatine ordered me to kill Dooku. I had him disarmed. He was helpless. And when he said he was too dangerous to be left alive, I believed him. It was after that the dreams started…"

Kenobi nodded. "Padme told me about the nightmares. They were a warning of the path you'd set foot on."

"And I was so busy trying to protect her, it never occurred to me I was the threat. I wish I'd shown Dooku mercy, as Luke has shown me."

"Mercy would be a very good way to found the Republic as well as a new jedi order." The jedi's voice was soft.

"That's up to them, I guess."

"But it's also up to you. You must forgive yourself."

Anakin froze. "How am I supposed to forgive the unforgivable?" Not that the thought hadn't occurred to him. He knew it, he just didn't know how to do it. He did know, somehow, that watching Luke's mercy toward him had given him a clue if he could only decipher it.

Obi-Wan's eyes held his. "The same way I survived all these years. One moment, one decision, one day at a time. Holding onto hope for the future and letting go of the pain of the past."

Anakin shook his head slowly. "I've missed you. I lied when I said I hated you. It was myself I hated."

Kenobi swallowed at this. Now Anakin wasn't the only one getting emotional. He had an edge Bail Organa did not. He could sense his long lost friend's pain in the force. It was oddly comforting, not because he wanted him to suffer but because it was an open and honest remorse.

Luke had no desire to get his father into more trouble than he was already in. So when Padme asked how he'd won his father back he hesitated.

"He told me at Bespin when we fought." Luke was unsure how much to say, but suspected telling her that Vader had sliced off his weapon hand was not news she was prepared for. He flexed it nervously

"The more I thought about it, the more I wondered. For all my doubts, I couldn't help thinking over what people said. They made a big deal about me getting out alive. But I knew better. He could've taken me. He just didn't _want _to kill me. And if he was able to kill the other jedi, why not me?"

"He held back." She observed.

Luke nodded. "So when I sensed him at Endor, I knew it was now or never. I was the only one who had a chance to reach him. And if I didn't he was liable to interfere with the mission. He didn't listen right away. The emperor was killing me. And then he turned on him. It nearly killed him. I wasn't sure we could save him."

"Luke, does the Alliance know he's alive?"

Luke hesitated, looked away. "Only the medical droid. I didn't know what else to tell them. So I figured I wouldn't tell anyone until I knew for sure he would make it. And then, we found out what happened to Obi-Wan …"

She nodded carefully. "It has to come out." She said sadly. "We kept our marriage hidden. But the worst person to find out, did. I don't think we can live the lie anymore."

"He said as much. If Senator Organa's reaction is anything to go by, that worries me." Luke sighed. "The first person I should tell is Leia. And it won't be pretty. When I told her the truth and what I had to do, she wanted me to run."

"He'll be better off." Padmé stated firmly. "Believe me, no matter what it is, it's better than where he's been. Better to deal with a hard truth than deal with the fall out when the lie is discovered."

Luke nodded. "He said as much." He smiled then. "I'm glad we waited though. I've gotten time with him on this trip. It's not much but it's enough to see the real him. The way he gave me this challenging grin when we were on speeder bikes and zoomed off. The way he tamed that animal to let Artoo ride. He was so calm. So content in a way totally opposite what he was before. He's enjoyed this trip. And I'm glad I've been able to share it."

_to be continued..._

* * *

Note: Anakin and Obi-Wan's adventure on Lanteeb is told in "Star Wars: Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth by Karen Miller.


	8. Chapter 8

**_May the Sixth be with You_**

* * *

Artoo whistled excitedly as he rolled up to Luke and Padmé. He swiveled his eye to her and rocked in place.

"Hey, Artoo." Luke said. "Did you get anything?"

The small droid whistled excitedly and revealed a holo projection of the files he'd gotten.

"That's great. And they didn't detect it?"

Artoo let out a loud tweet which they translated as an 'of course not'.

"What are we looking at?" Ahsoka asked.

"We're looking for whatever has the Empire so interested in this place."

Artoo whistled uneasily.

"Oh, it looks they are guarding some Imperial scientists poking around on one of those moons. They are worried about pirates. To be specific, Freedom's Sons. They've been active in this sector."

Luke frowned. "Freedom's Sons? I didn't think there were any left."

Ahsoka gasped. "Only a few last I heard. They went back to piracy with the rise of the Empire. Captain Slayke getting killed was rumored to to have stopped them, but it just sent them into hiding for a while."

"What are the scientists looking for?" Padme frowned.

"Good question. That looks like an ancient crashed ship."

"I see writing on the side." Padmé said slowly. "But I can't identify it. And after serving in the senate, I've seen a lot of species writing even if I can't read it."

"Now you mention it..." Ahsoka urged Artoo to zoom in. "It does seem just a little familiar. But I can't quite place it. I don't suppose there is a better view?"

Artoo chirped negatively.

"Maybe Father will recognize it." Luke said slowly.

"Guess we better go ask him." Ahsoka's eyes were bright.

"Hope he and Obi-Wan had time to work things out." Luke said.

Padmé nodded with a faint smile. "I didn't need to be a Jedi to tell that Obi-Wan was seriously feeling him out."

Anakin was still tinkering with the engines, with Obi-Wan's help. They'd fallen into a companionable silence.

"Hey, you two. Artoo's got that data you requested." Padmé smiled.

The droid whistled greetings.

"Anything useful in it?" Anakin sat up from under a console.

"The scientists are looking into something on one of those moons."

For a long moment there was silence as Artoo showed the images, rotating and zooming in. Anakin's eyes narrowed, his face went tight.

"Uh oh. I know that look." Ahsoka observed.

Anakin swallowed hard.

"Those hieroglyphs look familiar…" Kenobi whispered with alarm.

"They're Sith." He growled in irritation. "They're looking for Sith artifacts."

"Why?"

"Palpatine was a Sith, what do you think? Anyway, according to this they found an ancient crashed ship there."

"What could they have that would be dangerous now?" Padmé asked very slowly.

Anakin gave her a disturbed look. "Anything of the Sith is dangerous. Especially the teachings."

"Holocrons. Information." Kenobi said grimly.

"The word must be out by now though, he's not alive to use it." Luke frowned.

Anakin closed his eyes. "Just because he's gone doesn't mean no one can use it. Any Force sensitive could use it to bring back the Sith. And I am not the only Jedi that fell."

"There are other fallen Jedi floating around?" Luke looked around. "I've never heard of them …"

"They wouldn't have dared challenge the Emperor. Some actually worked for him."

So we not only have to sneak passed them, we have to stop them." Luke said, suddenly determined.

"Yeah."

Bail Organa peered in, clearly wary. "Do I want to know?"

"Not good news…" Obi-Wan sighed.

"Well, I don't have good news either. Scouts report they finally are searching for us. Maybe they already were and only just narrowed down the area."

"Great." Ahsoka sighed.

Organa still glared at Anakin.

"By 'narrowed down'" Luke interjected, "I have to point out that if you were living in that village it was only a matter of time before they narrowed the patrol net to this area."

"He's right." Kenobi nodded.

"Could we transfer the cloaking device to this ship?" Luke asked.

"It's not designed for anything this big." Anakin shook his head.

Organa sighed. "Too bad the Freedom's Son's don't know we're here. From what I've heard, they'd help us escape."

Anakin nodded slowly. "Definitely the kind of fight old Slayke would've appreciated."

Padmé hugged her knees. "We need a diversion."

"And for that, a cloaked ship might come in handy." Obi-Wan nodded.

"We could get close to those scientists and permanently wipe out that Sith ship and it's contents." Ahsoka looked enthused.

"Preferably without wiping out the scientists." Obi-Wan pointed out. "They aren't soldiers."

"Scientists built that monstrosity known as the death star." Fired Organa, one eye still warily on Anakin.

Anakin opened his mouth, closed it again. It would do little good to point out some of them may have been under duress. Especially since he was involved in it. "We can fire a warning shot."

"Didn't you say you'd have to lower the cloak for that? And that once they picked up the magnetic signature it wouldn't do any good?" Luke pointed out.

"Well, yeah. Might be a suicide run." Anakin was willing if it would help. He had no fear of death, it was living with the guilt that scared him.

"No suicide runs!" Obi-Wan said sharply, guessing his thoughts. "We'll find another way.

"The Rogues." Luke said firmly.

They all looked at him. "I can call in my squadron."

"And they'll just drop everything and come?" Organa was dubious.

"We aren't permanently attached to any base or permanent mission status. All Artoo has to do is bounce the signal around again and let them know."

"And hoping they haven't been assigned anywhere in your absence."

"We've nothing to lose by trying."

Artoo beeped excitedly.

"Should we send it from here or the shuttle?" Luke asked.

"The shuttle. We can't risk them finding this ship. It's our only way to evacuate everyone." Bail cast another wary look at Anakin at this.

Luke nodded, rolled his eyes to his father when Organa left. Anakin gave him a sad shrug.

"I'll go with Artoo." Luke said slowly. "Will you be okay here?"

"Sure."

Luke looked doubtful.

"I know he's bitter but he's not a killer." Not like me. Anakin didn't add the last thought.

"He's Leia's adopted father. It would be easier if we all got along."

"It's asking a bit much Luke." Obi-Wan observed. "After Alderaan."

"And he's worried about Leia." Padmé pointed out.

Anakin observed dryly, "He'll always be her father as far as she's concerned. And that's as it should be, he's earned the right."

Padmé squeezed his hand and gave him a sad smile at this.

Luke reluctantly turned and left.

"I'll lead you out." Ahsoka stated, going with him impulsively.

"He doesn't trust Luke either." Anakin frowned. "And that does bother me."

"It's because he arrived with you." Obi-Wan sighed. "Naturally he wonders if you've turned him."

"He beat me into the ground." Anakin's lips twitched in a half smile. "With half the training or less, he beat me into the ground. He's going to make the best Jedi ever."

"I'm sure you aren't the slightest biased." Obi-Wan noted, a slight smile curling his lips.

"Not a bit." Anakin replied sarcastically. "Seriously though, he was tempted but the Emperor couldn't shake him. And he was in a real no win situation. He decided he'd rather die even if his friends were in danger too than turn."

Padmé observed carefully, "Anakin. It's true you should've known better. But Luke had one advantage you didn't. He knew from the start Palpatine was his enemy. You didn't. He knew no matter how tempting it was, whatever he tempted him with was a lie. You didn't. He had years to convince you he was your friend and had your best interests in mind."

"And he would not have survived the victory it if you weren't there." Obi-Wan said softly. "You served as a warning to him as well as being his rescuer."

Anakin snorted. "A bad example isn't what I wanted to be to anyone, much less my son."

* * *

_to be continued_


	9. Chapter 9

Rogue Squadron, it turned out, was available. And they arrived with Luke's fighter in tow, parking just out of sensor range.

"We can take the cloaked shuttle up there, dock with them and Artoo and I'll space walk into my fighter." Luke suggested.

"Then who flies the shuttle?" Bail demanded.

"I'll fly it." Anakin said.

"No." Bail glared at him. "We are not putting our lives in your hands."

"Yes." Kenobi countered. "But not alone."

"I'll go with him." Ahsoka said suddenly.

"No. I will. You get the colonists to safety." Obi-Wan said firmly.

Bail and Padme looked between them. Padmé opened her mouth.

Bail cut her off. "Don't even ask, Padmé́. You aren't going."

She scowled fiercely. "That's my decision."

Anakin shook his head. "It still might turn into a suicide mission."

"I don't care."

"They will need you, in setting up a new Republic. There never were enough honest politicians." Anakin pointed out.

She hesitated. "There aren't enough Jedi either."

Anakin winced.

"I didn't mean..."

"I know what you meant."

"Don't worry. I won't let it turn into a suicide mission." Obi-Wan said firmly.

"I'll hold you to that." She was staring at Anakin. "Take care of each other. The way you used too. Please.."

Anakin cocked a brow at Obi-Wan. The older Jedi pondered him right back. Luke hid a smile behind his hand.

"I believe that's settled then." Obi-Wan nodded.

"Almost." Anakin rocked in place, looking him in the eye. "Just one thing."

Obi-Wan's brow rose.

Anakin turned to Ahsoka. "Take care of her for me?" Anakin cocked his head to Padmé. "My son wants to know his mother."

Luke did a double take at this. Anakin winked at him.

"I'll do my best, Skyguy." Ahsoka smiled warmly.

"We make it through together. Or not at all." Padme's voice was fierce.

Luke's eyes widened at how similar to Leia she sounded. "Let's do this then."

Anakin froze as he realized he had to walk away from Padmé and Ahsoka. He chewed his lip thoughtfully. Padmé made the move he wanted to. Flinging her arms around him and kissing his cheek, then pulling back quickly. "Be safe."

Ahsoka solemnly clapped a hand on Anakin's shoulder. Anakin looked her in the eye, glanced at Padmé, shrugged and suddenly hugged her. Ahsoka returned it. They ignored Bail Organa's instinctive move for his gun. Before he could draw it, they had already separated.

"May the force be with you, Skyguy. The light side this time." Ahsoka said.

Finally Anakin spun after Luke and Obi-Wan.

Activating the shuttle's cloak, Luke shifted it gently through the canopy. Eyes roaming the controls, he glanced out.

"We really do need to hurry. Look how close they are." Anakin observed, noting the patrols were nearing the hidden ship.

They zoomed up into space and no-one saw them. Circling to the far side of the planet from the ships and jumping to the rendezvous, they found a squadron of X-Wing fighters waiting. Luke dropped the cloak and hailed them.

The reply was immediate "Gang's all here, Commander. Coming over?" Wedge Antillies asked.

"Yeah." Luke replied. "Be there in a few." He rose and headed back to the crew quarters. Anakin shifted over to the pilot seat. "Okay then."

"Opening the airlock." Luke called through the com.

"Acknowledged. Be careful."

"I will." Luke jetted out and they watched as he floated over to the sole empty fighter. One hand was on Artoo, who used his rockets to get over there.

As soon as Luke was in and set he hailed them. "Okay. Time marked. Meet you there in two hours."

"Acknowledged." Obi-Wan calmly replied and glanced at Anakin. "Let's go."

Anakin pointed the shuttle to the moons and reengaged the cloaking device. "Let's fly."

The tricky part was getting through without bumping into anything. Debris floated between the moons and planet.

"Looks like someone already got blasted here."

Anakin sighed deeply and nodded. A shiver went through him as a sense of cold and nausea hit.

"I feel it too." Kenobi stared at the moon. "We're close to what they are looking for. I wonder how close they are."

"Close, but not on top of." Anakin pointed at the scientists, digging less than a klick away.

"I see light reflecting over there." Obi-Wan noted. "It must be where the ship went down."

"We're in position. Are we ready?"

Anakin slid his eyes shut, reaching into the force with a smile. "Luke?" He opened them again. "Yeah, they're here."

"Anakin?"

"Hm?"

"I think I should do the shooting."

"Good plan. Don't trust me with the gun?" Anakin rose his brows.

"You're pale and your hands are shaking. I'm not sure you'd notice if the scientists were on top of that sith object in your need to blast it." Obi-Wan replied honestly.

"What do you plan to do if they are by the time we strike?"

"Make them move!" Obi-Wan calmly retorted.

Anakin took a deep breath. There were a few scientists in the general vicinity of the object. Not knowing what it was made it hard to be sure they were nailing it. They couldn't take any chances.

"And…disengaging cloak."

"Guns online." Obi-Wan replied. "Firing." Twin laser blasts shot out of the shuttle's wings. They crackled into the ground where the force disturbance originated, avoiding the scientists.

"I'm still feeling it."

Kenobi fired again, inching closer to the scientists. One had held his ground, the others fled. He frowned in dismay. "I think this one is force sensitive."

The figure dove for the ground, definitely reaching for something. Kenobi picked up his firing. "I may need to take him out." He looked definitely displeased by this.

Anakin flinched as well.

Suddenly his blast blew the scientist force user away from the place he was reaching. The ground exploded up with more than the usual force, sparks of light showering the air in a nauseating twist of colors. The sense of darkness mostly vanished, leaving only a lingering bad taste.

The man below reached out with a clenched fist and pulled at the air.

"Hello. Definitely a Force user." Anakin noted, struggling with the controls.

"He's twisting the guns!" Obi-Wan battled with the targeting system.

Anakin twisted the controls and forced the ship up while Kenobi spun the weapons. Their old master padawan bond rose up, connecting them in the Force. Obi-Wan fired again and the assailant went down again. Anakin whirled the ship back to the main Sith crash site and the Jedi master fired repeatedly.

"Hurry! TIE fighters coming in." Anakin said sharply. The scientists fled and finally it blew up violently. "Sorry guys, no prize today." Anakin said firmly.

Obi-Wan Kenobi slid his eyes sideways at Anakin. "So, do you think that there are more sith sites we should use for target practice?"

"I know there are. Uh oh." Anakin slammed the cloak back on as the tie fighters roared up. They just missed him. A tie bomber joined the chase and launched torpedoes. Anakin dropped the cloak, diverted power to shields and poured on speed. A few shots bounced off them. The torpedo blasted the shield and it flickered. Twisting the shuttle through moves it was never intended for he ramped up the shields further to compensate. "Anytime, Luke." He stated.

Suddenly four starfighters tangled with the ties chasing them. The rest were in orbit tangling with star destroyers. They were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. Anakin took the opportunity to head for orbit as far out of range of the destroyers as possible, on the far side of the moon.

Listening to the comm chatter they could see the blockade runner charging out of the atmosphere and surprising the distracted Imperials. The ship made the jump while the interdictor was trying to bring tractor beams around. Anakin breathed a sigh of relief as Ahsoka's presence vanished. Padmé and Ahsoka, with their fellow refugees were safe. Anakin slid his eyes half shut, one eye watching the distance out of atmosphere. As soon as they cleared it his hands were on the hyperdrive controls. He hesitated a fraction.

"Rogues clear yet?"

"You know they aren't. Stick to the plan." Obi-Wan advised knowing he was reluctant to leave his son.

Anakin sucked in a breath. Luke had handled the first death star and the emperor. He could handle the destroyers. He nodded and made the jump to lightspeed.

A few moments later, Anakin suddenly realized he was alone with his old master. He swallowed hard. After everything he'd done, all this time, the silence felt awkward. He looked at her. "Uh, well, we know what a nightmare my life has been. How did yours go? You did a great job disappearing." His body trembled whenever he remembered what he'd done.

"I spent most of the time on a sandy world of your acquaintance."

"You sat on Tatooine all this time?" Anakin turned to blink at him. "What did you do?"

"Meditated. I had new things to learn."

Anakin studied him, chewed his lip. "From Qui-Gon?"

Obi-Wan looked at him. "Qui-Gon appeared to you?"

Anakin nodded.

"Yes. Actually."

Still, Anakin blinked at him. "I'm trying to fathom doing nothing but meditate for twenty years."  
"Actually it was surprisingly time consuming." Obi-Wan pressed his lips together. "Pondering our mistakes, letting go of the regrets, forgiving, trying to understand what why you would make such a choice, ... it took time."

"And watching Luke grow up." Anakin said, a touch of longing in his voice.

"Owen actually kept me distant. He didn't trust me. I guess he was afraid Luke would follow me on a wild crusade like you did."

"He blamed you?"

"I blamed me. Perhaps he sensed it. He feared Luke's talents coming to light."

Because of what happened to the jedi. Because Darth Vader hunted them down. Anakin ached at his son's talents being hidden because of it.

"I don't know why you blamed yourself for my mistake."

"I did not teach you to let go, Anakin. And Palpatine used it against you."

"I don't regret my son or my wife." Anakin said flatly. "Only that I had to hide them. Only that I let my fear blind me so thoroughly."

"I know. But it was my duty as your master to protect you from the sith. And if he had such influence while you were still my apprentice, and we both know he did, then it was my responsibility to stop it. And I failed."

"You didn't know he was a sith."

"It was my duty to know who and what was influencing you."

Anakin smiled faintly. "You tried. And contrary to Yoda's 'There is no try' I think trying matters. If only because it proves intent. I'm...I'm so sorry. I know words are useless." He linked back tears. "It...ah..."

"I know Anakin. I know it hurts. It hurt you and that pain fed the power of the dark side over you." Obi-Wan looked into his eyes. "And if you wish to remain free of the dark, you must know how you deal with this pain will determine whether you succeed or fail."

"I can't do it alone. I know I can't do it alone." He stared deeply into Obi-Wan's blue eyes.

"You most definitely will not have too, my friend."

Anakin swallowed as Obi-Wan squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

* * *

_to be continued..._


	10. Chapter 10

Bail Organa wasn't thrilled at being restrained at the arrival at the rebel fleet. His first instinct was to share the news about Vader. However Ahsoka and Padmé were both overriding him. "Give them time to get here Bail!"

"You don't know that he will get here!"

Padmé flinched. Bail meant to suggest he'd run away. She was more concerned he'd find a way to make it a suicide mission. She suspected only Obi-Wan's presence might stop him.

As it turned out, the shuttle arrived, cloaked, before the x-wings. At first, Bail didn't realize the shuttle was there at all. It was Ahsoka who announced his arrival when it still wasn't showing on the scopes.

Finally it uncloaked next to the blockade runner. "Permission to come aboard?" General Kenobi said, rather cheerfully.

"Granted." Padme replied eagerly, eyes on Bail, who looked worried.

"You can forgive him on a personal level all you want. But what are we supposed to do with him? You can't forgive him for the whole galaxy, or let him off the hook for his responsibility."

"Never said I planned too."

Anakin and Obi-Wan met them in the crew lounge.

Padmé smiled. "See, all's well."

Ahsoka's eyes were bright and she was smiling with some relief.

Obi-Wan solemnly studied Anakin. "This will be rough."

"I know." Anakin didn't call him on the understatement. They'd done a good deal of talking on the way in. Anakin had told him what had happened, what fears had overwhelmed him that led to his fall. Getting these fears, which still lingered, into the open would help them deal with them.

Organa hailed Obi-Wan on the comlink. "Rogues Squadron is here. They're down one ship."

Anakin winced. "As outnumbered as they were, it's impressive they only lost one." But Luke knew that pilot. He could feel Luke's grief in the force.

"And he is the one who has to tell the Alliance leaders about you." Obi-Wan said softly. "It will look wrong coming from anyone else, because he didn't come forward with the news immediately."

Anakin nodded. "I know." He knew too, how it would reflect on his son if he ran.

Luke bounced on the balls of his feet as he took Leia aside. He sucked a deep breath. Sighed. "Leia, Father's alive. I had him in the infirmary until we got word on Obi-Wan. We tracked him down."

Leia just stared at him, unblinking. "He's alive, Darth Vader is alive?!" Her voice filled with fear. "And you hid him?"

Luke shook his head. "He helped find Obi-Wan. And Obi-Wan found Bail Organa and the lost refugee colony." He gripped her shoulders with a shy smile. "And our mother, she was with them."

Leia swallowed hard. She sank back onto the nearest cargo box. She was overwhelmed with what to her was wonderful and terrifying news all at once. "Luke, what … what are you planning to do with him? Vader? He's a war criminal." She looked at him with brown eyes filled with uncertainty. "What about my father? Bail Organa, is he all right? Where is he?"

"He's fine." Luke hesitated. "No more thrilled about … Anakin, then you, I guess. Don't worry. Father isn't going anywhere. He's willing to work with the Alliance." His voice tightened. "He doesn't expect to walk away as if nothing happened." He pressed his lips together tightly. "They're on the blockade runner. They'll be over soon by shuttle. I guess our engineers will be thrilled to get Father's shuttle. It's got a cloak."

"I think …" Leia got up slowly and moved away from him. "I want to talk to Han. I told him, about us."

Luke nodded. "I'm going to talk to Mon Mothma. I won't tell her about how you figure into it. I know you aren't ready."

She nodded. "Your right. I'm not."

Han shook his head. When Leia told him, he really had no words. He put his arms around her. "It'll be all right."

"It's Vader. I'm … not sure how to feel about meeting my mother. Finding out her relationship to him." She shivered. Han sighed. "I won't let him hurt you." He hesitated. "I can't imagine Luke would either."

"But Han, I'm afraid he'll get hurt. He wants to believe in him so badly. Bail Organa is my father, will always be as far as I'm concerned. He raised me. But I think Luke always thought of his uncle as his uncle and missed having a real father. Now he's ready to take him back no matter what he's done."

"Maybe he's braver than the rest of us. Or crazier. I've never quite made up my mind." Han observed. "If Vader really killed the Emperor for him and nearly killed himself in the process, I guess it must mean something. For all our sakes, I hope Luke's right. I don't know about forgiving Vader but I'd rather know he's not wandering loose in the galaxy. And I can't deny tactically it would be a big edge for us to have his knowledge of the Empire when taking it apart."

"How can you be so calm about it!"

Han held her at arm's length. "Because I don't want to make it any harder for you. I love you. And for you, I'll forgive nearly anything."

"And if it's a trick?"

"I'll be the first one to blast him while Chewie tears his arms off."

Anakin had a vicarious view of the whole thing, through the Force. He could sense Luke's shifting emotions without even trying. The flares of alarm and anger. The worry and upset from Leia countered by the joy of seeing Bail Organa alive and well. Padmé had squeezed his hand before going in to join wouldn't get more than a brief moment with Leia before the Alliance Command would meet with them all. He could feel her emotions too. Understanding and sadness, grief and anger.

He sat next to Obi-Wan and Ahsoka outside the command area, waiting. Finally a comlink signaled Obi-Wan.

"General Kenobi?" A young alliance guard approached cautiously, one eye on Anakin but clearly addressing Obi-Wan.

"Yes."

"The Alliance Command would like to see you sir. Just you." He said slowly, glancing at the other two.

Ahsoka lightly touched Anakin's hand, eyes focused on the people casually drifting into positions around him. It was a discreet but hopeless effort to hide the fact that they knew who he was and were ready to deal with him.

"Stay here. Don't move." Obi-Wan gave Anakin a warning look. "Really. Don't move. If you ever obey me do it now."

Anakin looked into his eyes. "Believe it or not, I'm not even tempted to move."

"Shouldn't he be there?"

Obi-Wan gently shook his head. "They fear to even have him in the same room as the Alliance leadership. They will take a good deal of convincing."

Anakin's eyes dropped the floor.

Obi-Wan nodded and followed the officer.

Ahsoka turned to look at Anakin. "Remember all those relaxation exercises you taught me?"

"Yeah."

"I think now would be a very good time to practice."

"Agreed." He was highly aware of human, wookie, mon calamari and various others hanging around the lounge. He was being watched by people with itchy trigger fingers. He wasn't sure they knew who he was, but they had obviously been told to watch him, shoot on any suspicious movement and ask questions later.

"We can't just forgive him! He's not a rank and file soldier or officer. He was a jedi who led the slaughter of the entire jedi orderi! He's a war criminal! We can't trust him," fired Organa.

"He killed the emperor and was willing to die to to the right thing. At least that should earn him a chance to earn that trust." Luke insisted.

Mon Mothma was still somewhat in shock at the return of two of her long time trusted friends from the senate. "Are you suggesting we execute him?"

"I'm suggesting a trial, charges of crimes against civilization." Bail snorted.

"Which he's guaranteed to lose." General Madine observed.

"And then what? Execute him?" Luke's voice was strained.

"We'd already approved assassination attempts." Madine reminded Mon Mothma. "And that was the standard sentence in the old republic."

"For a defector?" Luke demanded. "I didn't bring him in and save him so you could kill him!"

Padmé's eyes were widening and her fists clenched at her sides. She glanced at Luke. His face was pinched with distress and growing fear.

Leia wasn't meeting either of their eyes, a sign that, on some level, she agreed with Madine's suggestion. She just wasn't willing to say so and hurt either of them.

Rieekan spoke up before either of them. "I'm not saying I trust him, or that he doesn't deserve it. But he does have a lot of information that could help us take the empire apart and rebuild the republic. Dead men don't talk." That was a generous statement. Rieekan was from Alderaan, and had been on a nearby base. Close enough to see the Death Star approach. Close enough to make the judgement call it was a bluff and not warn them to evacuate. Not that a full scale evacuation had any hope of succeeding in time anyway.

"And sith lie. You can't trust what he says." Bail snorted.

"He's given you his access codes. You can back up what he says with data from other sources." Luke fired back. "And as long as they don't know he's with us, they won't have any reason to lock those codes down or counter his information.

"I don't think you really understand the deeper meanings here." Padmé finally exploded. "Anakin IS the Republic. And Vader is the Empire. Metaphorically speaking, Palpatine corrupted the Republic from the inside out so that many people thought they wanted it to become an Empire. He deceived them! I trusted him. You trusted him up to a point. None of us - and I mean none of us, even you, Bail, when you started to distrust his motives - suspected he was actually the Sith! We certainly didn't know he was behind the Clone Wars pitting one side against the other. We are all guilty of letting it happen, of trusting him! Anakin is the primary example of that. Palpatine befriended him when he was a boy. The Jedi Council didn't suspect him. Why should Anakin? His master didn't suspect him, why should Anakin? The Jedi trusted him and followed his orders during the Clone Wars. And right up until the last, they trusted him. He was the Supreme Chancellor by election. That means people voted for and trusted him. We were deceived en masse."

So when you judge Anakin, you are judging all of us. Whatever he did, he did because at one point a man he trusted told him to do the wrong thing and it would help people. And with that, Anakin became Vader. The Jedi say the dark side of the force is like a drug. That once you taste it it changes you. Well, Anakin may have been guilty of making that choice, but he didn't make it based on any honest input. He made it based on a lie. We all did."

She finally paused for breath. "Anakin is the Republic as Vader is the Empire. And if Anakin can be redeemed, if he can stop being Vader, than so can the Republic stop being an Empire. If he can do it, it's a sign that no matter how far they fell, those deceived by Palpatine have hope. What would happen if word got out that he killed the Emperor, turned himself over to the Alliance and we killed him? Yes, some people would be relieved and even rejoice." Padmé admitted painfully. "But any Imperials thinking of defecting will think twice and that would make things harder for us to reclaim the Republic."

There was a long silence at this point.

"How can you know what he was thinking? That he thought committing these crimes would help?" Bail demanded.

She blinked back tears. "He was afraid for me. He was trying to protect me! I know. I know he had a vision I was in danger! And the last time that happened his mother died. They didn't believe in his vision and she died. So it's no wonder he wouldn't trust the council with it."

Obi-Wan paused to consider the mood of the room. Thus far he'd followed the argument in silence. He could feel Anakin reaching out, monitoring the force for clues as to what was happening in the room.

Bail looked at him. "Obi-Wan, I've been surprised by your reaction. I know I'll never really understand the Jedi. But how can you trust him or defend him? How do you know he isn't faking."

"Because of his medical charts, if you want proof besides what I sense from him in the force. He nearly died. He had no way of knowing you could save him, or would. The sith are inherently selfish, focused on their own needs and power. There was nothing selfish about what he did for Luke."

Mon Mothma activated the holoviewer to consult with 21-B the medical droid. "What did these techniques involve? Would Anakin Skywalker have survived without our help, or with conventional treatment he could find elsewhere in the Empire?"

21-B answered her. "It was an experiment cell cloning method using closely matched donor DNA."

"Meaning?"

"Unlike conventional cloning which grows the entire being or even in some circles, replacement organs in parts for said clones, this method would allow for cellular regeneration within the body itself. However, it needs healthy donor DNA and blood to act as catalyst. In this case, we used Commander Skywalker's as it was a close familial match, though I did have serious concerns considering he was injured himself. The technique has only done once before. In this case it appears to be a success, though I would highly recommend continued monitoring less unexpected side effects become clear."

"In any event, had this method failed, no method known in the Empire could have saved him. The damage to his life support suit was fatal. He was going through both lung and heart failure as well as multiple organ shutdown. We were forced to induce coma for some time to allow the treatment to take effect."

"So there is no question he would've died." Mon Mothma slowly clarified.

"None."

"Thank you, 21-B," Mon Mothma deactivated the hologram, her expression set in a thoughtful frown.

Obi-Wan considered Luke, at the stubborn expression on his face. He wondered if Anakin knew about this physical donation. He rather doubted it.

"I still don't see how you can forgive him." Bail shook his head in amazement. "Even if he has repented, his actions are over twenty years and millions of dead bodies late."

"I was his master. And as Padmé has so eloquently stated, he was deceived, we all were. It was my duty to protect him from the sith. If Palpatine already had his hooks in him before he was knighted, and he certainly did, then that is my responsibility. That is not quite the same as forgiving Darth Vader, nor of trusting that Anakin is entirely safe."

Padmé and Luke both gave him sharp looks at this. He held his hand up slightly, warningly. "The dark side is indeed a drug. Anakin will be fighting this internal battle every day. Only Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi, can hope to conquer Darth Vader, the Sith. He will need help relearning these lessons. And while you may feel punishment is the solution, every day of his life from the moment he fell has been torment. Physical, from confinement in the suit. Emotional, from loss of those he loves. Mental, from knowing at the very core that Palpatine broke him. He has to accept what he has done and control his emotions and act as a jedi. Not because he deserves to be one. But because only by being one will he ever be safe to those he loves." Kenobi looked at Padmé and Leia. "And he has the greatest of incentives to do that."

Mon Mothma sighed. "Justice or expedience, to get his aid dismantling the Empire. If we do let him live, we must keep his identity in general, a secret. If word got out the Empire would seek to undermine his information. And our credibility as a people seeking to form a just government will be questioned by his victims."

"They would also try to assassinate him." Luke pointed out, disturbed.

"There can be no greater punishment than what Palpatine did to him and knowing what it did to his family." Obi-Wan remarked, noting that Leia was sitting next to Bail and hadn't said a word throughout. She had stared wide eyed at her mother for a time. Her jaw was clenched tight. She met Luke's eyes on occasion. His return stare was almost pleading. There was a worrying divide between them. Not a big one, but a line where neither was willing to be convinced the other was right.

"Mercy is not a bad way to begin a new government. No-one is suggesting you allow him to wander free. Only to live and offer his skill and knowledge to help you." He paused. "And help us rebuild the jedi." He finished.

"Wait, what?" Bail looked astounded.

"Whatever artifacts the Emperor took from the jedi temple, he may know the whereabouts. If any jedi were unaccounted for in the purge, he may know about or help us access those hunter's lists. Whatever sith knowledge that may fall into the hands of another fallen force user, who would be emperor, he will know about and can give us an idea how to destroy or counter it. If anyone knows the perils of the dark side, and what methods we need to shore up our defenses against, it's him."

The silence was very deep now.

"Can we hold him? Will you tell us how?" Mon Mothma asked carefully.

The concept of locking the likes of Anakin Skywalker up suddenly hit Obi-Wan with it's full weight. He knew Anakin could not bear it. Not without full time supervision and the right sense of when to let him loose a little. He sighed inwardly. He and Anakin were fated to be together. It was a small price to pay to have a chance to help save his friend, to correct his failure to recognize the danger Palpatine posed to him.

"I will. I will supervise him."

"Are you sure you can handle him? No offense General Kenobi, but you aren't as young as you once were. And … you aren't entirely unbiased. I know he was your friend." Mon Mothma said slowly.

"Neither is he as young nor in as good a shape. He'll be fine. I can handle him. And I would certainly not be doing him any favors if I allowed him to get away with anything that lures him back to the dark side." He glanced at Padmé. "We can handle him." He felt a surge of determination. He wouldn't fail this time.

She let out a flicker of smile.

Mon Mothma studied him. "Would you three please excuse us to talk for a few moments?"

Luke and Padmé left reluctantly. Obi-Wan met Bail's eyes for a very long moment before leaving.

The debate raged for the better part of two hours. The real issue was could and would Anakin Skywalker help take down the Empire and reestablish the Republic. In light of that, they had to judge both Anakin and Vader, and whether they could control him or not. Justice was one thing. But truly, killing him would not bring back the dead. The question was would keeping him alive cost lives or save them?

"You've been very quiet, Leia."

"I'm debating with myself on another level."

Bail gave her a questioning look.

"Everything else being equal, do I trust Luke and Obi-Wan." Leia slowly rubbed a hand over the table. "I don't trust Vader. But … he saved Luke. I really believe that much. And I can't for the life of me think of a reason or angle he could be playing. Unless..." She could feel it but she wouldn't tell them that. She wasn't sure if that was the Force or not.

"Unless it's the truth." Bail finished, slowly. He shook his head. "In which case...," he sighed. "Where does justice end and revenge begin? I can't forgive what he's done, but I know killing him won't bring back Alderaan or the Jedi."

Finally they called them back in. Mon Mothma gave them a tense nod. "We're going to give this a try, in hopes that the information he gives us will help speed the transition back into a Republic. But we will not let him wander freely. We'd appreciate your help on a plan for containing him, General Kenobi and when he's questioned we want you there..." Her voice trailed off. "This is more a stay of charges or execution than parole. We need time to see for ourselves his sincerity."

Padmé squeezed Luke's hand, smiling through tears. "Thank you. I know he won't let you down."

"Padmé..." Mon Mothma studied her worriedly. "Be careful. Don't let love blind you." She hesitated. "Do you still consider him your husband?"

"I consider Anakin my husband, not Vader."

"Be careful."

"I will."

As they left, Luke turned to Leia in private. "Leia."

"I voted to give him a chance. And I only did it because he saved you. I don't trust him at all, but I can't deny that. It doesn't mean I've forgiven him."  
"Thank you."

Obi-Wan came out to Anakin, weaving through the soldiers who were trying and failing to be discreet.

"Well?" Ahsoka broke the silence first.

Obi-Wan nodded. "It appears you are in my custody and once again I'm responsible for you."

"I ... don't know whether to say thank you or I'm sorry." Anakin studied his former master, uncertain how the older Jedi felt about it.

"Your wife made a very eloquent speech as well."

"I'd like to see it."

"I believe Artoo did record it. It was well worth recording."

Their eyes met and held.

"I believe, my friend, it's time to talk to Padmé and Luke. Now."

Ahsoka looked up. "This private?"

"It must be. There are things Leia will share with Padmé…at the very least, he must tell her himself."

Ahsoka nodded and rose, giving his hand a firm squeeze as a show of support. "Love conquers hate. It will in this too."

Anakin swallowed hard and nodded reluctantly. "Let's go. But … does Luke have to know what I nearly did to Padmé?"

Obi-Wan just looked at him. Finally he acknowledged, "perhaps you should discuss that with her. But I do believe you should tell him. Otherwise that fear will always be with you of how he will react if it somehow comes out. And the last thing you need is another burden."

"I wouldn't have made it back without him."

"No. You wouldn't. In any sense."

Anakin blinked. "In any sense? What does that mean?"

"He donated blood and tissue to that 'experimental technique' to save you."

Anakin's jaw dropped. He stared at Obi-Wan. "But he was hurt himself! He got hit with Sith lightning."

"Apparently he wanted you back very badly. I doubt anything you tell him now will shake him."

The talk wasn't easy. To face the fear and get it in the open and found the newly reborn relationships on truth meant dealing with their disappointment and hurt at his failures head on. His heart thundered at the very fault and he felt short of breath. He found himself reaching into the Force to touch his old master, needing the knowledge that he was there, close by.

Padmé wept, hurt and angry over what he'd done Luke and Leia. Shame and grief burned Anakin's face. He found tears in his own eyes when he hesitantly told her. But Luke was up front in pointing out that it was that very thing - the sight of the prosthetic hand, that reminded Luke that he could fall just as his father did. The harder part was telling Luke about Padmé. Luke was silent for a long time at this. His eyes narrowed as he looked away, then back at him.

"Looking back, I know that as soon as I killed Dooku I crossed a line. The dreams were a warning that if I stayed that route I could lose everything. Instead I thought they meant I had to act or else lose all. I sold out the Jedi to save the one I loved and in the end I lost everything. I didn't control the power, it controlled me. In my right senses, I'd never have been such a fool as to think Padmé or Obi-Wan would want to hurt me." His eyes dropped. "I just didn't give them a choice."

Padmé touched Luke's hand. "I knew his reasons Luke. My heart was broken but I really did know that deep down, he was hurting and not in his right mind. And I refused to believe his light was gone out forever."

Luke touched her hand. After what Vader had done to Leia, why was he even surprised? "So I guess we've got three things in common. Father, the fact that he hurt us …" he looked at his father, "and the fact that we choose to forgive him."

Anakin let out a shaky sigh. "You don't hate me?" He looked between them.

"And give Palpatine the victory after he's dead?" Padmé demanded.

"Never." Luke finished fiercely. "Give Leia time. She'll come around too."

"How did it go?" Obi-Wan asked. He'd been waiting in the next room.

"Better than I thought."

"They've had time to come to terms with the difference between you and your shadow."

"What about you?" Anakin asked.

Kenobi smiled gently at him. "I've received a miracle. The one friend I failed and would've wanted back the most has returned. The others just died, but as much as that hurt they are one with the force. You were the one left in unending suffering. We both have a second chance."

Anakin smiled. He was home. And while not everyone had forgiven him, he had a chance to make things right. It was an opportunity he had no intention of wasting.

_The End_

* * *

_Thanks for Reading!_

_For those interested in Leia's take on this, stay tuned for the sequel: **Healing Nightmares.**_

_Now that Anakin Skywalker is back, the dark side has been pushed into his dreams. Can he learn to live with his guilt without drowning in the dark side? And can Leia ever learn to accept the Anakin Skywalker who was buried inside her worst enemy?_


End file.
